black and white and red all over
by xCaligula
Summary: Byleth is a senior starting at a new school, and quickly finds herself involved with longtime friends, Edelgard and Hubert. Things turn complicated when rumors of a serial killer actually being a vampire begin to circulate, and even more so when she hears rumors about Hubert... Eventual OT4, Byleth x Edelgard x Hubert x Ferdinand
1. Chapter 1

Byleth's last first day of school is also her first day at Garreg Mach, a private academy she'd never heard of before she was enrolled. But her father's work has taken her to this area, and because he previously knew the headmistress, some strings were pulled to get Byleth in on scholarship.

"I know it's not ideal, transferring your last year of school," her father had said, looking every bit as apologetic as he sounded, "and if I could avoid it, I would. But you know how work is…"

Byleth doesn't actually know how work is, because she's never been completely clear on what it is her father does, but they've moved a few times in her life, and she's never taken the time to get close enough to anyone that she really minds moving. Even for her senior year, it doesn't matter much to her either way. She still has no idea what she's going to do once she graduates, and she wonders if that might be a negative side effect from moving so much.

Her father isn't home to see her off on her last first day of school, but this isn't uncommon. Whatever his job entails, it keeps him away most of the time, and Byleth is used to fending for herself. There are times when she gets lonely, but it's manageable, and she's very used to.

She isn't expecting to or planning to make any friends here. Starting so late, when it's an academy where most people have known each other all through high school, most even before that, means that there probably won't be much room for a new girl. She gets there early to get her locker assignment and schedule, and is able to find her way around without much incident.

Her first class is a study hall, overseen by a teacher with a planning period that hour. The teacher, introducing herself as Miss Casagranda, tells them, "You all can talk or do whatever else you want as long you don't get too rowdy. It's the first day, I know none of you have homework yet," before sitting down at her desk and spacing out.

"It's so lame having study hall first thing in the morning! Like, what are we supposed to do?" asks the boy sitting next to Byleth. It takes her a moment to realize that he's talking to her.

"Oh, I...well, I guess if you forgot to do homework the night before, maybe? Or if you've got a big project to work on," she says. "I didn't have a study hall at my last school, so I don't know."

"At your last school? Oh, are you new here? I thought I hadn't seen you around before!" He smiles. "My name's Caspar! What's yours? What year are you? Where are you from?"

By the time Byleth has finished answering his questions, Caspar has decided that it's his personal mission to be her first friend, and to talk her through how things are at Garreg Mach.

"For the most part, everyone's been here since at least middle school, some elementary school. There are a few who started in high school, and a few exchange students, but I think you're the first senior I've ever met starting new," he says. "You said it was cos your dad had a job transfer?"

She nods. "We've moved a few times before, so I'm used to it."

"Still, it's gotta be hard coming to a place like this! Well, anyway, we may be in different grades, but you can count on me for anything," he says. Caspar is a sophomore, and talks to her about the student government, the extracurriculars, what classes he's heard are interesting for seniors and what senior teachers to watch out for, and it is in the middle of one of his tangents that another student enters the classroom.

Miss Casagranda doesn't even react to the student, arriving twenty minutes after class has started, but Byleth looks up. The student in question is a fairly tall young man, with sharp eyes that look a little sunken in; all of their uniforms are the same, but the black outfit looks somehow darker on him, and he seems almost menacing. Byleth doesn't realize that she's staring at him until he's sat at an empty desk and her eyes are still on him, but she has a hard time looking away.

"Wonder what made Hubert so late," Caspar says, following her gaze.

"Hubert?"

"Yeah, the guy who walked in. Hubert von Vestra, he's a senior like you. He's kinda creepy, I don't really know how to explain it, but you just kinda get weird vibes from him, you know?" Caspar says all of this in a low voice, probably so Hubert won't overhear them.

Byleth can see what he means, but at the same time, something about him has caught her interest. For reasons she can't quite explain, she finds herself wanting to talk to Hubert, maybe get to know him, and maybe even make friends with him. It's out of character for her, and she looks down at her desk to stop herself from staring at him.

"I really don't know that much about him, except he's always hanging out with this junior. I guess they've been friends since they were kids or something," Caspar continues. "Actually, she's the one I was telling you about before, the junior class president. Hubert doesn't do student council though. Honestly, I don't know that he does anything other than hang out with her."

"So who else is in student council?" she asks, mostly to move the subject away from Hubert.

"There's the senior class president, Claude, and his vice president is this guy Lorenz. He's kinda snobby, which is the complete opposite of Claude. I'm pretty sure he only won cos he throws the best parties," he replies. "Edelgard is the junior president, and it's the second year in a row she beat out Ferdinand, who got stuck as her vice president."

Before, he'd told her that elections take place at the end of the school year, determining officers for the next year. The freshman class doesn't have officers, but sophomores, juniors, and seniors do. He talks about Annette, his class president, for a little while after that, and then the subject changes again while he talks about transfer students.

"My grade has this girl named Petra, I think she stays with one of the teachers," he says. "Dedue is in your grade, and he lives with this one junior, Dimitri. Actually, come to think of it, I'm surprised he isn't doing student council. Dimitri, I mean. His family's full of politicians, but maybe he's so busy with the real world that he doesn't have time for student government."

Byleth is ashamed that she only pays attention halfway, stealing glances at Hubert from time to time. When class ends, she says goodbye to Caspar and quickly gets up, wanting plenty of time to look for her next class, just in case. But as she exits the classroom, someone touches her arm to stop her, and she turns around, suddenly faced with none other than Hubert.

"I...can I help you?" she asks.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he replies. "You kept looking at me during class. If you don't actually need anything, might I suggest taking a picture?"

"I-I…" Byleth finds herself completely frozen, unable to think of anything to say in response. He hadn't reacted to her staring at all, so she thought she had gone completely unnoticed. Apparently, that's not the case at all, and she can't think of a way to defend herself.

"Nothing to say?" he teases, and before she can think of anything to say, he turns down the hall, and would have disappeared in the crowd if he didn't tower over more than a few students.

Byleth snaps out of it then, and hurries to find her next class.


	2. Chapter 2

Her second class of the day, English, is fairly uneventful, but when she walks into the History of Fodlan classroom, she sees Hubert sitting at one of the desks. There is a seating chart on the board and she is both pleased and disappointed that her assigned seat is nowhere near his,. When she passes his desk, he smirks at her, and she promises herself that she will not look at him again during class.

Over the years, people have talked about crushes that they've had, people that they've liked and dated and wanted to date, but she's never experienced anything like that first thing. She doesn't have the experience to determine if that's what this is, nor does she know Hubert at all, much less enough to determine what she feels for him. But, while she makes it a point not to look at him in class, she thinks about him more than she listens to the teacher go over the plans for the semester.

So far, her experiences with Hubert have been less than pleasant, so why does she still want to talk to him?

She isn't planning on _actually _talking to him, and leaves class without looking at him again, not giving him a chance to tease her again. Not that she even knows he would have, and not that she would have been grateful for any chance to talk to him…

She has a little bit of a difficult time finding the art room, and just barely makes it into the classroom before the bell rings. When choosing electives, Byleth hadn't been sure _what _to take, and settled on a study hall and an art class. She doesn't have any particular love of art, but the description made it seem low pressure, and it filled the gap in her schedule.

When she enters the classroom, she sees a few tables, open seating with most of the tables full of students. And, sitting at one of the tables, is Hubert, who gives her another look when she catches his gaze. He is sharing the table with one other girl, with long white hair, who is even more eye-catching than Hubert. The unusual hair color is enough on its own, but she's so pretty that she would probably draw eyes no matter what color her hair was.

Byleth quickly looks away to avoid Hubert's eyes, trying to decide which mostly-full table to invade, since she's sure that Hubert's table is completely out of the question. She looks back and forth between tables as the teacher goes to the front of the room, ready to begin class, when a voice calls out to her.

"There's plenty of room at our table." Though she's never heard this voice before, she knows the source immediately, turning to see the girl Hubert is sitting with waving her over.

"Really, Edelgard?" asks Hubert, as Byleth sits down at their table.

"Now, Hubert, you don't have to be rude," she replies with a half-smile. "It's nice to meet you. I heard there was a new girl in Hubert's class."

"I just moved here. My name's Byleth, it's nice to meet you."

"I'm Edelgard, and this is Hubert," she replies. At that point, the teacher calls for attention and their conversation is cut short, but they're able to talk again after the teacher is done going over the plans for the semester. They spend the last half of class working on sketches to describe what they did for their summer vacation, and Hubert breaks the silence.

"We keep running into each other, Byleth," he says, giving her the same smirk he did in their history class. She blushes and stares at her sketchbook.

"Have you two met already?" asks Edelgard.

"We have a few classes together," he replies, and thankfully doesn't bring up the staring incident. From that point on, Hubert and Edelgard mostly talk amongst themselves while Byleth listens. She remembers what Caspar told her earlier, about them always spending time together, and she can tell just from listening to them that they're very close.

In fact, she can't help but wonder if they might not be more than just childhood friends. Watching their familiarity, she's reminded of close couples she's seen in the past, though there's no way to know for sure if that's the case or not. But if it _is _the case, then she should probably forget whatever irrational something she's starting to feel for Hubert, after only knowing him for a few hours and having uncomfortably run-ins with him.

Really, it's a good idea to forget about him either way, but she especially doesn't want to try and come between the two of them.

"So, what about you, Byleth?" asks Edelgard, snapping her out of her thoughts. "It's pretty rare to switch schools right before you're supposed to graduate."

"Something came up with work," she says. "For my father, I mean. So we had to move out here, and he knew some people and got me enrolled."

"Sounds convenient," Hubert muses.

"Well, if you need anything, you can ask either of us," Edelgard says.

"Volunteering me?" asks Hubert.

"If I ask you, you'll do it," she says with a shrug, and he chuckles.

"You're not wrong."

Watching their exchange, Byleth is even more convinced that the two of them are a couple. She returns to her drawing, doing doodles of her and her father packing up to move, since that was the only semi-interesting she did all summer. When class is over and she looks at Edelgard's and Hubert's drawings, she can't make much sense of what they're supposed to be.

"I've never been very good at art," Edelgard admits, looking a little embarrassed. "But I do like it, and I had an open spot in my schedule...Hubert doesn't care much either way, but he took it with me for moral support."

"Something like that," he says.

"I just didn't know what else to take," Byleth admits. The bell rings then and they're dismissed.

While Byleth is packing up her things, Edelgard asks, "You have lunch next, right? Well, that was a stupid question, fourth hour and lunch are connected." Half the students have their fourth hour class after lunch while the other half has it before, with their classes determining which lunch they get.

"I do," she answers, even though Edelgard has already answered the question for herself.

"Do you want to sit with us?" she asks. "I figure you don't know a lot of people, so if you'd like, there's an open seat at our table. I promise Hubert doesn't bite, so you don't need to worry about that."

"As long as you don't give me any reason to," he adds, and Byleth isn't sure if she should laugh or not.

She's grateful for the invitation, at least. Caspar had already determined that they had opposite lunch hours earlier, and she had been planning on sitting by herself for the time being, possibly for the rest of the year. That would have been fine by her, but it's nice to have someone to sit with, if only because it will keep people from worrying about how much of a loner she is.

"Yeah," she says, "that sounds great!"


	3. Chapter 3

It isn't long after Edelgard, Hubert, and Byleth have sat down and started on their lunches when a boy approaches their table. Both Hubert and Edelgard groan before he's in earshot, but neither make any effort to look happy to see him once he's close enough to talk to them.

"Come on, Edelgard," he says. "We don't want to start this year off like this! Let's get off to a good start!"

"I have no idea what you're talking about Ferdinand," she replies.

"Don't you have anyone else to bother?" Hubert adds, but Ferdinand ignores him, focusing only on Edelgard.

"You should each lunch with the rest of the student council," he continues. "There's so much we could be discussing!"

"We can _discuss _things at student council meetings," Edelgard says. "I told you last year, several times, that I'm going to eat lunch with my friends."

"And I told _you _that Hubert can sit with us too! Claude always has his friends, you know that!"

"That's not going to happen," Hubert says.

"And there you have it," says Edelgard. "So, once again, this conversation is over, Ferdinand."

Byleth watches them go back and forth, feeling more like a distant spectator than someone at the table. She doesn't have anything she can contribute to the conversation, so she simply watches Edelgard and Ferdinand argue, while Hubert interjects, doing everything he can to try and ward Ferdinand off. Ferdinand ignores their attempts to let him know that he's unwelcome and sits down next to Edelgard, still trying to convince her to join the rest of the council.

Hubert groans, turning to Byleth and saying, "_ This _should be fun. Exactly how I wanted to spend my only real break today."

"Does this happen often?" she asks, and he sighs.

"Every now and then he takes the hint, but yes, he tends to make this a habit," Hubert replies. "He's somehow gotten it into his head that he and Edelgard are rivals. Ever since they were kids, he's made up reasons to compete with her, but when she beat him out for sophomore class president, he kicked things up a notch. Needless to say, losing for junior year as well has only made him even more difficult."

"Please, at least hear out my list of suggestions!" Ferdinand cries.

"I will at the next meeting. It's the first day of school, Ferdinand. Can't you let it rest?" asks Edelgard, rolling her eyes.

"See what I mean? Difficult," says Hubert.

Byleth stifles a laugh and Ferdinand looks over to them. "Are you talking about me, Hubert?" As if noticing Byleth for the first time, his face softens and he says, "I'm sorry, I haven't even introduced myself. My name is Ferdinand von Aegir and…"

Ferdinand ends up dominating the majority of conversation at lunch, much to the frustration of Edelgard and Hubert. Byleth doesn't mind watching the three of them go back and forth, and she feels a little bit of pride every time one of them looks over to her and makes a face about something Ferdinand has said. She hasn't known them for very long, but she feels a sense of belonging, something that she isn't used to even after being at a school for a while, much less on the first day.

They're finally able to shake Ferdinand when the bell rings, and Edelgard asks, "Byleth, what's your next class?"

"Anatomy," she says. "I think it's room 303, if either of you know where that is."

"It's not far from the art room, but I can show you either way. That's actually my next class," Edelgard says.

"I shouldn't have taken it last year," Hubert says, more to himself, and she shakes her head.

"No guarantee we would have gotten it the same hour like there was for art," she replies.

Anatomy is a class that you can take whether you're a junior or a senior; at Garreg Mach, students are required three years of science and three years of math, with one additional math or science of their choice. When transferring credits, Byleth discovered that she was already short on math, so she opted to take anatomy rather than have two math classes in one year.

Hubert splits off from them to go to his next class, and Byleth follows Edelgard to the anatomy classroom. Rather than desks, there are tables, each with two chairs, and no seating chart. Byleth sits down next to Edelgard. If she hadn't known anyone in this class, she would have done her best to get an empty table, and likely not put in any effort to get to know whoever ended up sitting next to her.

For the first half of class, their teacher goes over the syllabus, informing them that, for the first month, their table partner will be their lab partner, but after that, they can choose a lab partner for the rest of the year, and that the seating chart will be based off of that. Once he's done, they're allowed to talk amongst themselves, and Edelgard makes conversation with Byleth.

"Sorry about lunch," she says. "I was hoping to get to talk to you some, but Ferdinand didn't really give us much chance for that."

"It's alright," Byleth replies, not sure what else to say. She isn't sure why Edelgard is being so friendly to her. Is it because she's new? She seems to not have many friends besides Hubert- and perhaps Ferdinand, if that can be considered a friendship- so it doesn't make sense that she's latched onto Byleth so quickly. Still, she isn't going to complain about that.

"Hubert can be a lot to take in at first too," Edelgard continues. "He's very standoffish, but I swear he means well. Mostly. Unless you get on his bad side."

"I'll...try my best not to do that. Have you known him for a while?" she asks, already knowing the answer to that, if what Caspar told her is true.

"Since we were kids. Our families sort of know each other, and we've both gone to Garreg Mach since kindergarten. He was always very protective, when we were children, so we've always been very close friends."

"That must be nice," Byleth muses.

"You move around a lot, right? You must not have had many opportunities to make friends like that, I guess."

From how she talks about it, it sounds like Edelgard and Hubert really are nothing more than good friends. Not that that's any of Byleth's concern, and not that that knowledge really does much to change the vibe she gets from the way the two interact. But, then again, Edelgard said it well. What does she really know about lifelong friendships?

~X~

Her sixth class of the day is pre-calculus, filled mostly with juniors finishing up their third year of math, but not Edelgard or Ferdinand. Byleth keeps to herself in that class, though she shares her seventh and final class with Hubert. Religion is a required subject for all four years at Garreg Mach, but from what she's heard, most students are only there because their families can afford it, not because they're passionate about the religious aspect.

Naturally, Hubert doesn't say anything to her when she enters the room, and since there's a seating chart, she doesn't have the chance to see if he would sit next to her or not. Instead, she's seated next to someone that she recognizes from the table Ferdinand tried to get Edelgard to join at lunch.

"You're the new kid, right?" he asks. "My name's Claude, I'm your class president. I'm guessing since you made it to the end of the day, that means you've found everything alright."

"Yeah, pretty much," she replies, before introducing herself.

"Well, if you need anything, it's basically my job to help you out, so don't be afraid to ask," he says, and she doesn't mention that he's the third person to make that offer today. Grinning, he says, "But I will give you one piece of advice, since you're new to town and all...watch out for the vampires."

Class starts at that moment, and at the end of class, Claude walks out with someone else, engrossed in conversation, so Byleth doesn't have a chance to ask him what that means.


	4. Chapter 4

Her father isn't home when she gets home from school either, but Byleth is sure that his job is keeping him busy like always. She isn't sure what she would say about school if he were even there to ask; normally, she's reduced to one-word answers like, "good," but sometimes, she's generous enough to say, "same as always." That doesn't seem to suit the rather eventful first day she's had, but how would she go about describing her new friends?

After making dinner for herself, she looks over some of the materials her teachers gave her, killing the time until she can go to bed.

~X~

"So, how was your first day?" asks Caspar when she sits next to him in study hall.

"Good," she says, just like she's talking to her father.

"Anything weird happen? Are you fitting in okay? Did you make any friends besides me?" he asks, demanding more information than her father would have. She doesn't mind the small conversations that they have, but she also doesn't mind the interest Caspar is taking in her life.

"I had a few classes with the junior president you told me about," she says. "We had lunch together."

"Edelgard? Did Hubert actually let you sit at their table?" he jokes.

She nods. "Her vice president sat with us some too. Hubert was less thrilled about that."

Wrinkling his nose, Caspar says, "Ferdinand? Yeah, I can imagine. Still, kinda weird that they just let you in like that. A lot of girls look up to her and all that, and she's really good at school and campaigning, but she mostly keeps to herself. Or maybe it's just because she's always with Hubert and he scares everyone off."

"I can see that," Byleth admits.

"He didn't scare you off, though!" He laughs, before quieting down and leaning in close. "Maybe I should be quiet, I don't want him to hear or anything. He does kinda scare me, just a little bit. I mean, he's got that whole creepy look…"

This reminds Byleth of what Claude said to her the day before. "That reminds me. Someone in one of my classes was talking to me, and he said I should watch out for vampires. Is that some school joke, or was he just being weird?"

She expects Caspar to either laugh it off or not know what she's talking back. Instead, he looks at her with a more grim expression. "Oh...that. Yeah, I guess since you're new to town you might not have heard about it yet? It started a little ways into summer vacation…"

"The...vampire joke?"

"It's not exactly a joke. More like a mystery," he replies. "To put it simply, there's a murderer. At least, the news thinks it's one guy, like it might be a serial killer or something. At first, the killings were grouped together really frequently, but they've been more spread out, and it's been a couple weeks since the last victim was found."

Byleth realizes now that this wasn't Claude pranking her, nor is this any laughing matter. It's the first she's heard of it, but she doesn't pay much attention to the news, and her father sprung the move on her a month ago, so she's only been in town a short while. She hasn't had a chance to even try to catch up on things around here.

"So...what do vampires have to do with it?" she finally asks, not knowing what else to say about the serious subject.

"Well...it's how they link the victims together. They've always got two little holes in their neck, like they got bitten or something, and they're almost completely drained of blood," he says, shuddering. "It's super creepy, and a lot of people started saying it was a vampire doing it."

"Do you think it is a vampire?"

"What?!" Caspar laughs, but he looks nervous even as he does. "No way! It's just some weirdo who gets off on acting like a vampire, or something. My dad's on the force, and he says that serial killers do weird things like that all the time. I'm sure they'll catch the guy in no time! If I ever run into him, well...he better watch out!"

Though he says all of this, Byleth wonders if he's just putting on a brave front, and if he might doubt his own words. She's sure that it's exactly as he says, but the idea of a vampire on the loose would be enough to make anyone nervous, as unrealistic as that idea might be. Even if he doubts it, he's likely still worried about that slight possibility that it might be true.

Caspar is quick to change the subject, rambling about a class he has with one of the exchange students and how nice she is, and Byleth looks up then, feeling someone's eyes on her. Towards the front of the room, Hubert has turned around in his desk, and is looking directly at them. Caspar doesn't notice, but when her eyes meet Hubert's, he smirks at her before turning back around. She wonders if he was able to hear their conversation after all, and wonders if she heard what Caspar said about him before they started discussing vampires and serial killers.

For whatever reason, she feels embarrassed to be caught talking about him with someone else.

~X~

Like the day before, he doesn't interact with her during history, but as she's leaving the classroom, he falls into step beside her, and though they don't talk, they do walk to the art room together. Edelgard is already in her seat when they get their, and they join her at the table.

Byleth wonders what the two of them think about the vampire killer, but she feels strange bringing it up when she remembers that Hubert may have been eavesdropping when she and Caspar discussed it. Not to mention, it feels a little childish to talk about the possibility of vampires running amok in the town, even as a silly rumor, and both Edelgard and Hubert seem above that. She's not used to having a group of friends, but she thinks she could _get _used to it, and doesn't want to mess it up so quickly.

At lunch, just as they are getting settled in, Ferdinand comes over to their table to start up his spiel from the day before. Byleth is mostly able to block it out, but she listens when she hears him say, "-not to mention your hair. I don't know what possessed you to dye it like that, but didn't you think about how that might reflect on your image?"

Edelgard's hair is so light that Byleth has wondered if it's natural and she's just that blonde, or if she'd bleached it white, but Ferdinand confirms that. When he says this, Hubert shoots him a glare and says, "Would you please go back to your own table? The student council is waiting on you, aren't they?"  
"This doesn't concern-" Ferdinand deflates, before huffing. "We have a lot to discuss at the upcoming meeting, Edelgard. Don't forget about it."

"I've never missed a meeting before, Ferdinand," she says in a tired voice, not looking up from her lunch. When he's out of earshot, she sighs and says, "Honestly, you'd think my hair is the end of the world. He always finds some way to blow everything completely out of proportion."

"Did you dye it over the summer?" asks Byleth.

"Yes. I thought it would be a nice change," replies Edelgard.

"Clearly our dear vice president doesn't agree with that," Hubert adds with a dry laugh.

~X~

The rest of her day passes without much event. She and Edelgard don't have much time to talk during anatomy, as Mr. Essar gets into a rather in-depth lecture that leads into many tangents, she tries to keep up in her math class, and Hubert keeps to himself in religion.

Claude doesn't bring up vampires this time, and simply checks in on how she's doing on her second day, but she's glad. She doesn't want Hubert to listen in again and hear her ask Claude his opinion, because she's still concerned about looking childish for even entertaining the idea of vampires being real. Obviously she doesn't believe it, but it's a curious rumor, and she's interested in hearing what other people have to say about it.

But she's sure that she'll hear more either way, because, whether it's a serial killer or a mythical creature, then it's likely that they'll eventually strike again.


	5. Chapter 5

Byleth falls into a routine after the first few days of school. Most study halls are just spent talking to Caspar about this or that, with her doing more of the listening and him doing more of the talking, and Hubert not talking to her much outside of art or lunch. Edelgard is more talkative than he is and she feels like they're becoming closer friends, and slowly, she starts to feel less like an outsider in their , Ferdinand will try to bother them during lunch, and either Edelgard or Hubert will manage to get him to go away, but he always finds his way back.

Despite Hubert mostly keeping his distance, Byleth's interest in him only grows. She knows that it's a terrible idea to get a crush on him, and even so, her interest persists. And even after having Edelgard tell her that they're just friends, she can't shake the suspicion that there's something more going on between, but, strangely, she doesn't feel anywhere near as jealous as she could.

Maybe it's because she's an outsider who has no right to be jealous of their closeness, or maybe it's because she values their friendship more. She likes Edelgard a lot, and can't imagine resenting her for something like that. Maybe she doesn't even really like Hubert that much; it isn't like she has the experience to know better.

It's easier to just ignore whatever she may or may not be feeling, and just enjoy getting to be friends with them.

~X~

A week and a half into the school year, she arrives one morning and notices a much darker mood in the hallways. The other students seem on edge, and most groups that she sees talking amongst themselves have grim expressions on their faces. Byleth wonders if something has happened, and when she sits down in study hall, she turns to Caspar, who seems just as on edge as everyone else.

"Did something happen?" she asks.

"Do you watch the news at all, or do you just live in a bubble?" he asks.

"I don't really watch anything," she admits.

"Well, I'm surprised you haven't heard by now. It's all over the news and it's all anyone can talk about," he says. "There was another attack last night! Somebody found a body, you know, with the blood drained and stuff."

"So it was the vampire again?"

"Had to have been," Caspar says. "But, I mean, that's just what we're calling him until they catch him. Obviously he's not really a vampire." He laughs, and Byleth doesn't mention that she hadn't asked for clarification on that.

"Was there anything different about it this time?"

"Hmm, not really. The victim was really fresh, so whoever found him might have been close to seeing the guy! Or...you know, being his next victim, if they weren't careful," he explains. "If it were me, I would have looked all over until I found him, of course!"

"What if you got your blood sucked?" she teases, and Caspar pales, before laughing her remark off.

"It's not _actually _a vampire, so fighting him off wouldn't be that hard for me! Since I'd be looking for him, I would be on my guard!"

"How long has it been before the last victim was found?" she asks.

"Well, I know it was before school started, but sometimes when they're found, they aren't exactly fresh...it's been hard to pin down a real timeline even with autopsies and stuff, but the cops aren't sure if the killer has a real pattern or not."

For the rest of class, Caspar goes on about what he knows and what he's heard at home that hasn't always made it into the news, and while he talks, she looks over to Hubert's desk, only to see that it's empty. She'd been so busy listening to Caspar that she hadn't noticed Hubert not walking into the room, and a quick glance over the class reveals that he isn't at a different desk today either.

He must be absent, and she wonders if he's come down with something. The day before, he had seemed fine, but he also doesn't seem like the type to talk about it if he weren't feeling well. Or he could just be extremely late, even more so than the first day of school. Either way, she turns her attention back to Caspar, glancing to Hubert's empty desk again from time to time.

~X~

Hubert doesn't show up during history, and she walks to art class by herself. When she arrives, their table is completely empty, and once class is underway, it becomes apparent that Edelgard isn't here either. Are they both sick at the same time? She works on her art project in silence, and realizes how lonely the table is without the two of them.

And with her own table so quiet, she can hear the conversation at the table next to hers, though she doesn't listen in until she hears the name of one of her friends. They're speaking quietly, probably so that she doesn't hear, and Byleth pretends to be engrossed in her drawing as she listens in.

"-is weird that Hubert's absent now of all times," someone says.

"Yeah, I haven't seen him all day, now that you mention it," their friend replies.

"So, now you get what I'm saying?"

"Sure, it's a weird coincidence, but missing school doesn't make him a serial killer."

"I don't just mean because of that. I mean, he's always been weird, right? Kinda pale, kinda creepy looking...everybody's saying it's like a vampire did it."

"So you think Hubert's a vampire now? Like you said, he's always been like that, and this started over the summer."

"Well, yeah, but…I just heard someone else talking about it earlier, I didn't really think about _that _."

"I do see what you mean though."

It's hard for Byleth to keep to herself, listening to their conversation. Whether it's a joke or not, it's jarring to hear people openly discussing the vampiric serial killer and tying Hubert's absence to that. He's probably just sick; after all, Edelgard is out as well, and it's likely that they caught the same thing. Byleth should be careful that she doesn't catch whatever it is they have, she thinks, and tries to ignore the conversation from that point on.

At lunch, she sits alone at their usual table, and is surprised when Ferdinand approaches her. He must be able to see that Edelgard isn't there for him to bother, but rather than even asking about her, he sits down next to Byleth, as if it's the most natural thing in the world.

"Is it alright if I join you?" he asks.

"I...yeah, that's fine," she says.

"I figured you might be a little lonely, since neither of your friends are at school," he explains. "It is strange that they both were absent today. Actually, I heard something weird and funny this morning, about Hu-"

"This table looks kinda lonely, mind if we join you?" a voice interrupts, as Claude sits down at Byleth's other surprise. She turns to look at him and he's grinning. There are others with him, including his vice president, Lorenz. He must have brought all of his friends with him.

"You're the one who says we should all sit together, Ferdinand," Lorenz scolds, and as Ferdinand defends himself, Byleth realizes that their conversation is over. She doesn't mind, because she knows Ferdinand was about to repeat the joking rumors about Hubert being a vampire or a serial killer, and she isn't sure what she would say to that, other than that Ferdinand needed to be a little more realistic.


	6. Chapter 6

The next morning, Hubert is already in his seat when Byleth gets to study hall. It's hard not to notice students occasionally glancing at him and whispering amongst themselves as she makes her way to her seat, but if Hubert notices, he shows no sign of it. Even Caspar is staring at him when she sits down next to him, but he quickly turns his attention to Byleth.

"How's it going?" he asks.

"Everything's going good," she replies, not allowing herself to look over at Hubert or see who all is talking about him. But her curiosity gets the better of her enough to ask Caspar, "Did you hear anything new about the vampire?"

"Nah, not really," he says with a shrug. He hesitates for a moment, looking like he wants to say something, but is unsure of how to say it. Byleth knows what's coming before he ever opens his mouth, starting with, "I did hear something kinda funny, but at school, not from any real sources or anything…"

"Oh, yeah?" she asks, feigning ignorance. "What's that?"

Lowering his voice, he says, "It's actually about your friend, you know. Since Hubert was out yesterday and all, somebody starting joking about it being him…"

Just as she suspected, he wants to tell her about the rumors that she's already overheard. "So, he's a serial killer because he missed school yesterday?" she asks, raising a brow.

"Wh- no, no! Nothing like that!" Caspar says quickly, accidentally raising his voice before lowering it again. "No, it's not like anyone really thinks he's a murderer or anything, it's just...you know, doesn't he kind of _look _like a vampire? So it's more like, if it were a real vampire, people were saying…" He trails off, looking guilty for even bringing it up.

Byleth can't really blame him for buying into, as stupid as it may seem to her. From what she can tell, Hubert doesn't interact much with anyone, and with all the distance he puts between himself and others, it's understandable that there would be an air of mystery about him. She was certainly intrigued by him at first glance, and maybe if she hadn't become friends with him and Edelgard, she might have listened to the vampire rumors without immediately writing them off.

"I don't know about that," she finally says. "Weren't you just saying the other day that vampires aren't real?"

Blushing, Caspar says, "Well, yeah, duh! It's just a joke, I don't think anyone really takes it seriously. I sure don't, so...please don't tell him I said that? Please?"

"What is it?" Byleth teases. "You're not afraid of him, are you? Like you said, there's no way he's actually a vampire, so what do you have to be afraid of?"

Caspar's blush deepens and he mutters, "Just don't, okay?"

"Right, right, I won't say anything," she says, but she had never planned to to begin with. She isn't sure if Hubert is the sort to get his feelings hurt over things like that, but she still wouldn't want to risk it.

From that point on, Caspar is eager to change the subject.

~X~

When she gets to art class, Byleth is glad to see that Edelgard is back as well. When she sits down at the table, she says, "Are you feeling better?"

"I am, thank you for asking," she replies.

"You haven't asked about me even once," Hubert says as he takes his seat between them. "Two other classes together, and not a word, I'm almost hurt."

"Are you really?" Byleth asks, raising a brow.

"Of course not," he replies with a chuckle. "But I do think it's funny you haven't called us out on being absent on the same day."

"Hubert, hush," Edelgard interjects.

"I mean, I guess it's weird, but I figured you both came down with the same thing, right? You're close, so it makes sense," Byleth replies, trying not to wonder what it is Edelgard might want to hide. If there's something going on between them, she has no right to be jealous, she reminds herself. Except, again, she doesn't _feel _jealousy, and it feels more like a reflex, telling herself not to be.

"Yeah, it was...I hope you're feeling alright," says Edelgard, seeming just a little flustered. "You haven't come down with anything, have you?"

"I'm fine," Byleth replies. "Was it a cold or a stomach bug or what? I need to know what symptoms to look out for."

"Stomach bug. It comes on really fast but goes away really fast. We're just still a little drained from it."

"I'm pretty much fully recovered, honestly," Hubert replies. "Still, I wouldn't recommend it."

"It doesn't sound like fun."

"So, what did we miss on our day off?" Edelgard asks, ready to change the subject.

"It was pretty uneventful in most of my classes. I mean, I don't know about the ones you guys don't have with me but…" she says. "I can get you notes for anatomy, and, Hubert, I can get you notes for whatever you need."

"I appreciate it," Edelgard replies, while Hubert says nothing, but offers a nod and half a smile. The two of them really do fit well together, she thinks, but this thought still doesn't interfere for whatever it is that she feels for Hubert. She knows that she must be interested in him romantically, but not only does the idea of him with Edelgard not make her jealous, but she rather likes the idea of the two of them as a couple, which is odd for a number of reasons.

Her own interest in Hubert aside, she doesn't typically take interest in other couples. Even when it's been obvious to even her that two people were interested in each other and might work well together, she hasn't felt anything towards that one way or another. Certainly, she's never caught herself rooting for two people to get together, or wondered if they were hiding a relationship, and searched for signs of that.

"Oh, and Ferdinand came to bother me at lunch," she adds. "He ended up sitting with me, and then Claude and Lorenz and their group of friends came over too. I guess they thought that I looked lonely without you two."

"Figures," says Edelgard. "He was probably just trying to find some way to one up me by eating with one of my friends or something."

"He never changes," Hubert says, rolling his eyes.

"Oh, yeah," says Byleth, as if just thinking of it, but really, she's thought about bringing it up the entire time. "Everyone was really up in arms about that new victim they found. A lot of people were talking about it."

"The serial killer, you mean?" Edelgard asks.

"Yeah, the one everyone keeps saying is a vampire," she says, trying to sound casual. It's the first time she's actually brought it up to them, but she's been curious about their thoughts ever since Caspar first told her.

"You don't believe that, do you?" Edelgard shakes her head. "You know that's completely ridiculous, right?"

"Of course not. I mean, I don't believe it, it _is _ridiculous," Byleth mutters. Immediately, she feels silly for saying anything about it at all. Of course Edelgard would have no interest in stupid rumors like that.

Hubert only laughs at her, with an imperceptible smile.


	7. Chapter 7

Though Byleth isn't surprised that Ferdinand tries to join them at lunch, she doesn't expect Claude and his group to sit down at their table again. But they do, as Ferdinand says, "Since you won't come to us, we're coming to you today."

"You know I can just move to another table," Edelgard replies. "You left yours empty, so we can always move over there."

"Calm down, madame president," Claude interjects. "This is just for today."

"Yes, since you were absent yesterday," adds Lorenz.

"You said that you didn't need to sit with us as long as you were attending meetings, but you know you missed a meeting after school yesterday, right?" asks Ferdinand. "So, today we're going to get you caught up on what you missed! I had to make a lot of decisions in your stead, but I think once you listen, I think you'll agree that I made the right call. Actually, if I were-"

"I'm actually a little hurt," Claude interrupts. "I thought we bonded enough yesterday that we'd always be welcome." He turns to Byleth and winks, earning her a scowl from Hubert.

As the unofficial student council meeting gets underway, Hubert says, "So, this really is entirely your fault."

"Wh- it is not!" she protests, before lowering her voice. "I didn't ask for any of this."

Hubert laughs, shaking his head. "Don't worry, I believe you. I don't think anyone would ask for this."

Edelgard has already gotten caught up in an argument with Ferdinand about some of the "great decisions" he's made in her stead, with Lorenz attempting to weigh in from time to time even though most of them relate directly to the junior class. Claude does nothing to mediate, talking amongst his non-student council friends, and Byleth wonders if any of them really expected to accomplish anything.

As if reading her mind, Hubert says, "If what Edelgard says is to be believed, this is how much of their meetings go. It's a wonder she's able to keep it up. I certainly wouldn't have the patience for something like this."

"If you two were in the same grade, would you have wanted to be vice president?" she asks, and Hubert raises a brow.

"What makes you ask that?"

"I was just curious. You took art to have a class with her, she says you guys have always been close. I thought maybe if you could do it together, you would have."

"If we were the same age, maybe. If she asked me to run, I would, but there's no guarantee I would even be considered by the student body, all things considered," he says.

Byleth isn't really sure why she asked, but his answer is exactly what she expected.

~X~

Edelgard isn't particularly talkative after lunch, when they settle into the anatomy classroom. Normally, she starts a conversation at this point, but today, she seems to be thinking about something else, and Byleth doesn't know what to say to get a conversation started, and before she can think of anything, class has already begun and she doesn't have a chance.

The lecture goes on for the entire class, without any lab work or even free time to work on their homework. She and Edelgard have to go their separate ways then, and Byleth has still not gotten her to say much. Perhaps the impromptu student council meeting wore her out, with all the arguing she had to do with Ferdinand, or maybe she isn't fully recovered from her illness and just doesn't feel like talking.

Byleth is sure that she doesn't need to worry about her, but she finds that she really wishes she could have talked to Edelgard more. It feels like she wasted their class, but she isn't sure what to make of that. She isn't used to caring so much about the time she spends with people at school, and it's strange that she's already gotten so close to people at this school, when she's struggled so much in the past, and expected to struggle even more at a private school like this.

~X~

Byleth is one of the first students in her final class, and when she gets in the room, she sees a note written on the board, explaining that they will be allowed to choose their own seats today. For the time being, they will have open seating in this class, but if they aren't well-behaved, then they'll go back to their seating chart.

Byleth sits where she normally does, not sure where else to go, and as she is getting her books out, Claude takes his usual seat next to her, turning to her and saying, "I really don't mind sitting with you, so I think I'll just keep my usual seat. So, that was some match at lunch today, huh?"

"You mean Ferdinand and Edelgard's...discussion?" she asks. "It was something."

"You should see them during a real meeting," he replies with a laugh. "Honestly, they make it so entertaining that it was boring yesterday when she wasn't in. That's mostly why I decided to bother you guys today."

"Not just to hang out with me again?" she jokes.

"Well, maybe a little bit of that too, but you keep so much to yourself...you never give me the chance to talk to you!" he teases. "Maybe if I keep sitting with you, you'll change that?"

"I'd prefer if you stayed at your own table," says Hubert, as he sits down at the desk on Byleth's other side. She hadn't even noticed him enter the room, much less make the decision to sit with her, and she turns to him, surprised.

"Just a joke, Hubert, nothing to worry about," Claude says. "I know if you didn't kill me for it, Edelgard probably would, and I'd hate to see what might happen to poor Ferdie as a result."

"As would I," Hubert replies, and Byleth has to wonder if he's aware of how ominous he sometimes sounds.

Once class starts, they don't have much opportunity to talk, as the majority of the class is trying to be on their best behavior to prove they don't need a seating chart. But when she gets up to leave at the end, Hubert walks with her, following her all the way to her locker.

Just when she is about to ask him if he needs something, he says, "What exactly are your intentions with Edelgard?"

For a moment, Byleth isn't sure how to process what he's asked. It's such a strange question, not at all what she was expecting, and what's more, she doesn't know how to answer something like that. "I...what do you mean?"

"I think that was pretty straightforward, Byleth."

"She's my friend? I don't know what other intentions I could have," she mumbles. It sounds like the kind of question an overprotective relative would ask one of Edelgard's potential suitors, and she finds herself growing flustered just imagining that.

Is it because he's jealous? Does he think there's something going on between _them _? She would think that he would know Edelgard well enough to know he had nothing to worry about, and the whole thing seems ridiculous from any perspective. But, then, what does he mean?

There is a harsh look in his eyes when he waits for her answer, but then, it softens. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with. I was only asking." With that, he walks away, leaving Byleth even more confused and flustered. None of that exchange made a bit of sense to her, and, knowing Hubert, he will act as if nothing happened when she gets to school tomorrow.

As she makes her way home and thinks about their conversation, she specifically dwells on the idea of him seeing her as a threat to the relationship she imagines him having with Edelgard, and why that notion made her feel so strange. Byleth has considered the possibility that she might have a crush on Hubert, but this is the first time that she's wondered if she might have a crush on Edelgard.


	8. Chapter 8

There are a handful of victims found in the coming weeks. By mid-September, Byleth has grown used to hearing about it, and even begins watching the news, curious about when the attacks might pop up. There isn't any discernible pattern that the police are able to figure out, and it is still whispered about at school, the mood growing more tense with each victim that is found.

Hubert doesn't miss school the day after the next attack, but Byleth is not surprised to overhear a handful of people still discussing the vampire rumor when he isn't in the room. She wonders if he's heard about this, but isn't sure exactly how to bring it up.

Not to mention the fact that she doesn't know how to talk to him after their strange conversation at her locker.

During art class and lunch, he behaves as he always does, but with Edelgard there as a buffer, it is possible to pretend that nothing ever happened. He continues to sit by her in religion, but he doesn't talk much to her there, and never in any of the other classes they have together. She has plenty of time to think about what he's said, but she still can't figure out what he meant by any of it.

Rather than dwelling on it too much, she decides to just bury any of the thoughts that it brings up, especially those regarding her confusing feelings for both of her new friends. Whether she likes Hubert or not, she knows it's better to forget about that, and if her feelings for Edelgard might go a little deeper, there is no point in actually digging for that.

~X~

By mid-September, Byleth is used to hearing about the attacks, but Hubert doesn't miss school after many of them. In fact, it isn't until mid-September that he misses school again, and, surprisingly Edelgard is absent with him again. Naturally, there are even more whispers of Hubert having some dark, vampiric secret, and Byleth tries to ignore it.

Ferdinand sits with her at lunch again, but this time, Claude and his group don't join them. He doesn't say anything about Hubert, but he does try to see if she has any information about what Edelgard is up to.

"What do you mean by 'up to'?" she asks.

"Oh, you know! Any major plans she might have to make herself look better, how she plans to defeat me in the next student election, and the like!" he proudly declares.

"Well...she doesn't really talk about things like that. At all, really." Byleth has to resist laughing at him, when he very clearly seems to take this seriously.

"She doesn't? Well, then, what do you three talk about when I'm not here?" he asks, looking disappointed.

Byleth studies his expression, and slowly, it begins to dawn on her that his curiosity might come from more than just a simple rivalry with Edelgard. It's possible that he might just want to be friends with her and Hubert, and actually be welcome at their table. Come to think of it, she can't recall seeing him talk with many people outside of student council; maybe Ferdinand doesn't actually have many friends, despite his attitude.

"Pretty much anything," she answers, not sure what else to say. It isn't as if she can recall every conversation they've had, and even telling him in detail about the ones she can recall would be strange. She feels a little bad for Ferdinand now, but she isn't sure there's much she can do to improve his relationship with either Edelgard or Hubert.

For now, she just talks to him, trying to satisfy his curiosity.

~X~

The next morning, she doesn't see Hubert throughout her early classes, but Edelgard is out their table in art. Byleth takes her seat, welcoming Edelgard back and asking if she's feeling better.

"Yes, I'm fine," she answers.

"Did you and Hubert come down with the same thing again?" Byleth asks. She has to admit that it seems like a strange coincidence, but she doesn't know if she should say anything about that.

Edelgard nods. "I didn't want to miss another student council meeting, so I came back to school today, but Hubert stayed home another day."

"That's not like him."

"No, I guess it isn't," she replies, giving Byleth a weird look.

"What is it?" she asks, noticing her odd expression.

"I just think it's funny that you're not questioning the coincidence. That's twice this year, and we've not been in school for that long. For both me and Hubert to have missed twice, and at the same time…"

Does she want her to question it? Byleth cocks her head, not sure what to say, and Edelgard sighs.

"I suppose that pretty much exposes it, doesn't it? Well...please don't tell anyone else, but neither one of us was sick yesterday, or earlier in the year." She says this quietly so that those at the other tables don't hear, and waits for Byleth's reaction.

Unsure of what to make of this, Byleth simply says, "What were you doing, then?"

"It was...something with my family," she says. "I have to leave unexpectedly at times, and it takes me a while to get back. Since Hubert has been close to me for so long, he goes with me for...moral support. He stayed home today to try and make it look a little less suspicious."

She's surprised that Edelgard is telling her this much, but maybe she considers Byleth a close enough friend to share it with. Byleth doesn't want her to think she's misplaced her trust, so she decides not to question her further. Instead, she just says, "I see...I hope everything is alright for you and your family."

"Thank you for your concern," Edelgard says, seeming to appreciate Byleth not prying. And with that, she drops the subject completely.

~X~

Things return to normal, with Hubert coming back to school the next day and not mentioning his absence at all. They fall into their same pattern, with nothing particularly unusual happening. In fact, Hubert becomes more talkative away from Edelgard, making light conversation in their last class and walking with Byleth. Sometimes they will meet up with Edelgard after school, and sometimes, Byleth finds herself hanging around for a long time before finally going home.

On one particularly stormy day, Byleth expects the three of them to spend a lot of time hanging around after school, in the hopes that the storm will pass before they have to leave. It's so overcast that it nearly looks like nighttime outside, and Byleth isn't sure if she should try to walk home with the rain coming down like that.

However, Edelgard seems in a hurry, and tells Byleth that she can't stay for long. Hubert offers her a ride home and Byleth says goodbye to the two of them, almost tempted to ask Hubert if he could give her a ride as well, but she doesn't want him to go out of his way for her. One of the downsides to moving so much and not seeing her father much is that she's never taken the time to practice driving, and doesn't have her permit, much less her license or a car.

"Strange that she's going home straight away," Ferdinand says, standing behind Byleth. She turns around, surprised to see him there, when she hadn't even noticed him approaching.

"What do you mean?"

"Haven't you noticed? She's always staying as late as she can, for some reason or another. Studying or doing extra student council work, usually. Probably trying to one up me."

Byleth doubts that, but she doesn't comment. She isn't sure why Ferdinand is even talking to her, but all she says is, "Maybe she didn't want to stick around with the weather this bad?"

"Maybe...maybe I'm just overthinking it."

"I'll be stuck here for a while, waiting for the rain to stop."

"Why's that?" he asks.

"It looks like a little much to walk home in," she replies.

"You walk? And Hubert didn't offer you a ride too?"

"I didn't ask."

"So? Not very polite of him to leave one of his friends behind, but then, this _is _Hubert we're talking about." Ferdinand frowns, but then brightens. "Well, I am more than happy to give you a ride instead!"

Byleth considers turning him down just because she doesn't want to impose, but she doesn't want to be stuck at school for a few more hours at best, so she accepts. Naturally, Ferdinand spends most of the drive rambling about his one-sided rivalry, but his company isn't bad.


	9. Chapter 9

Byleth only brings up what Ferdinand said the day before casually. She doesn't mean anything by it; when she gets to art and sits at their table, she just wants to comment on the fact that they didn't stick around to hang out with her, and that Ferdinand actually offered her a ride home, and it just comes up.

"He says you normally stay pretty late after school," Byleth continues. "He made it seem like it was pretty weird that you went home so early, but I guess it was just because of the weather."

"Oh, did he?" asks Edelgard, frowning, and Byleth realizes that she must have said something wrong. Even if it was Ferdinand's doing, she shouldn't have brought it up, though she doesn't know why that is.

"Ferdinand should learn to mind his own business," Huber says. "And so should you." Byleth feels even more guilty, without understanding what she's done wrong.

"Hubert!" Edelgard says. "Don't say it like that, you're making it sound like something shady."

Hubert hesitates before saying, "I'm sorry. You know I was just joking around."

"Really, Byleth," she continues, "it's nothing major. I stay late for a lot of extracurricular things, mostly student council. It's been a very busy year for me, so I've had to stay a lot later than usual this year."

"That makes sense," Byleth replies, not wanting to say anything else that might make her or Hubert mad at her.

"Yesterday, I would have liked to get more done, but the weather was already so awful, and I was afraid it would get even worse," she continues. "That's why I asked Hubert to take me home early." Hesitating for a moment, Edelgard then says, "Next time, if you need a ride, you can ask Hubert too. I'm sure it would be better than having Ferdinand talking your ear off."

"He did do that," Byleth replies with a slight smile.

"Let me guess, he was asking you about my secret weaknesses, or something like that."

"Pretty much exactly that."

"And that's probably why he was trying to convince you it was weird for me to go home early," she says. "Ferdinand is just jealous, and always looking for any way to get the drop on me for...whatever reason. I haven't even done anything special. I'm hardly the eternal rival he tries to paint me as."

Byleth is glad that Edelgard doesn't seem as upset with her as she initially thought she was. As for Hubert, it's hard to tell what he's thinking, and she once again remembers how odd their conversation the other day was. He makes no sense to her, and just when she thinks she has his relationship with Edelgard figured out, or just when she thinks she has figured out how she fits in with them, he will say or do something to throw her off.

They're some of the most complicated people she has ever met, but they're just two high schoolers. She can't for the life of her figure out what would make things so difficult. For now, she decides not to worry about what Hubert is thinking, and hope that she doesn't accidentally upset Edelgard again.

"If you ever need any help after school, you can ask me," Byleth says. "I don't mind staying late to talk to you anyway, so if you need help, I can lend a hand."

"You wouldn't want to stay as late as I do," Edelgard says, dismissing her.

"It wouldn't be a problem. My father isn't home very often, so I can get home whenever I want to."

"Really, there's nothing you need to worry about," she replies, brushing her off once and for all. Byleth doesn't know if she's really being brushed off or not, but it's hard not to take it that way when this entire conversation has gone so poorly so far. Though she isn't sure what she's done wrong, she knows that she's made several missteps, so she feels as though Edelgard is frustrated with her, and wouldn't want to spend any more time with her than she would absolutely have to.

"Alright. Just let me know if you ever change your mind," she says softly, and they drop the subject entirely. For the rest of the class, they work on their personal projects, with Edelgard and Hubert making light conversation that Byleth occasionally joins in on, though more often than not, she doesn't feel comfortable responding.

At the very least, things seem to have returned to normal by lunch, and Byleth is glad that Ferdinand doesn't try to talk to them today. If he did, it might just remind Edelgard of their conversation during art, and might make things weird again. She would really prefer if she forgot about it entirely.

~X~

The rest of the day passes without anything else of note happening, but after her last class, Hubert walks along beside her, not saying anything. He hasn't said much of anything outside of his normal conversation with Edelgard, and he hasn't talked to Byleth since then at all. She is uneasy, knowing that another strange confrontation must be about to happen.

And, sure enough, Hubert follows her all the way to her locker, hovering there as she puts her books away and gets ready to go home. When he finally speaks, he sighs and says, "You know you shouldn't be so pushy with people, Byleth."

"I...what do you mean?" she asks.

"If Edelgard doesn't want to talk about something, then don't push," he clarifies, giving her a sharp glare.

"I really didn't mean to bother her," she says, not meeting his eye as she turns her attention back to getting her backpack ready to go home. She knew it had been an uncomfortable scene, but she doesn't know why Hubert needs to be so protective. Just when she thinks she understands their relationship, she is given something else to think about.

Hubert sighs again. "Just don't be so pushy next time, alright? You need to learn to take a hint."

_Or what?_ She wants to ask, but she doesn't. She just nods, apologizing again before saying, "Well, I should probably head home."

"Oh? Earlier you said you could never had to go straight home after school, didn't you?" he asks, raising a brow.

"Still, I should go home," she mutters, and Hubert doesn't stop her. Today has been a strange roller coaster, and she isn't sure if she should try to forget it, or if she should continue overthinking. Whatever the case, it doesn't make her complicated feelings for her friends any easier to figure out.

* * *

_Note: All new chapters are available on my the week before they are available here. This story currently updates on a Saturday schedule, so catch you all next Saturday with chapter 10!_


	10. Chapter 10

Watching the morning news before she goes to school has become a habit for Byleth. On the rare mornings when her father hasn't left before her, he comments on how he isn't used to seeing her take such an interest in current events, and she brushes the comment off. She feels weird admitting her interest in the vampiric serial killer to him, though she's sure he would only think it strange for the same reason he thinks it's strange for her to watch the news to begin with.

One Friday morning, she sees news of another attack. As always, the crime scene is the same as always, without anything to link it to the previous attack other than the means. A police officer talks about how difficult it is to form a profile for the killer, and reminds the general public to share any and all relevant information. Based on his appearance and his last name, Byleth assumes it's Caspar's father, and makes a note to tell him when she gets to school.

But as soon as she sits down, Caspar beats her to the punch, saying, "Did you see my old man on the news this morning?"

"I thought that was him," she replies. "It seems like he's really having a hard time with this."

"Yeah, but we'll get him eventually! Nothing to worry about there!"

"We?" she asks teasingly, and Caspar blushes.

"W-well, I mean, they will. But can you blame me for being a little excitable? I mean, they're basically at the end of their rope, so they're practically begging for the every man to help out, right?"

"I don't think that's what they were asking…"

"Maybe not, but I still bet it would look good on me if I could find something out! I bet if I could crack the case, there'd be a big reward, I'd get to punch the guy out…"

Feeling like they've had this conversation before, Byleth mostly tunes out, shaking her head from time to time. "Well, best of luck to you," is all that she can say in the end.

~X~

"Is Edelgard out today?" she asks Hubert during art class.

"She is. She had something to attend to, but we have that test in religion today, so she told me I shouldn't miss school," he replies.

"Oh, I see." The conversation slows to a stop after that, and they work on their projects in relative silence. Occasionally, he will comment on something or she will respond, or vice versa, but she doesn't know what to say to him. Though he and Edelgard have mostly gone back to behaving as they were before, Byleth is on edge from time to time when she remembers.

She certainly knows that she shouldn't say anything about the serial killer, but Hubert is the one to bring it up. It's no surprise to her that Ferdinand doesn't try to bother them at lunch, with Edelgard not there, so she and Hubert are left alone.

"You should be careful playing detective," he says, without any prompting.

"Huh? What's that mean?" she asks.

"You and your friend," he replies with a slight smirk. "I couldn't help overhearing you in class this morning. He seems pretty gung-ho about investigating that killer on his own time, doesn't he?"

"What, you mean Caspar?" Now, she's starting to understand. She hadn't realized that he could hear their conversation. "He's not serious about that, he knows better than to actually try and track down a serial killer on his own. He just says things like that."

"I'd imagine...still, it wouldn't be a good idea. Whether he means it as a joke or not, if I were his friend, I would discourage him from sticking his nose where it doesn't belong," Hubert muses. "And, of course, if I were you, I wouldn't get too involved in whatever stupid plans he might have."

"I wasn't planning on it," she says, confused by how interested he is in the topic.

"A good decision." With that, Hubert seems satisfied, and Byleth has no idea what's just happened. There's something off about the way he talks, something off about all the vague warnings he gives her. She hates to even think about the stupid rumors she's heard, but the more she thinks about it, the more off Hubert seems to her.

Why is he taking such a personal interest now that he's overheard her and Caspar talking about the supposed vampire? Could he really be…?

Of course, she knows that's ridiculous. She knows that vampires aren't real, and he's so close to Edelgard that he wouldn't be able to hide something like that from her. She wouldn't be safe being alone with him, would she? Even if he were just a serial killer...and that seems even less likely than an actual vampire. As silly as she feels even making the comparison, a vampire would kill for sustenance, whereas a serial killer…

She pushes the thought out of her mind, hoping that Hubert didn't notice her mind wandering so much. Though she knows how stupid her wandering thoughts are, she finds herself thinking about it throughout the day. She is just barely able to forget about it long enough to focus on her test in religion, but as soon as she's turned it in, she glances over to Hubert, asking herself again if there's any connection, or if he's just being weird.

Byleth is honestly looking forward to a weekend away from school, even if she knows that she'll likely spend the whole weekend overthinking, only for nothing to come of it and everything to return to normal once she goes back on Monday. At least, that's what she's planning, but when it's time to go home, Hubert stops her.

"Would you like a ride today?" he asks.

"I...well, I don't really need one, the weather's fine, so…"

"Maybe I should have asked that differently. What I meant was, would you like to come with me?"

"Come...with you?" she repeats. "To...hang out?" This is the first time anyone at this school has asked her to hang out outside of school, but it's even weirder coming from Hubert. Remembering his ominous warnings earlier, she almost worries, but pushes that thought away as soon as it occurs to her.

_Vampire or serial killer, I doubt Hubert is either one _, she thinks. _He isn't inviting me over to silence me or anything like that! _

"I guess so," he replies, which is a weird answer. If he's the one asking, shouldn't he know?

Whatever the case, her curiosity wins out, as well as her desire to prove to herself that she's being stupid worrying about Hubert. And, if she's being completely honest, the idea of hanging out with Hubert is still appealing, all past awkward encounters aside. Despite all of that, she still hasn't managed to talk herself out of being attracted to him. So she agrees, and follows him to his car, and only when he's already driving does he say, "We're going to Edelgard's house."

"Oh!" Well, that certainly makes more sense. Byleth wonders if she should be disappointed that she isn't going to get to be alone with Hubert, but she isn't. In fact, she's glad to be able to see her, since she was out all day. "She's back from visiting her family?"

Hubert pauses for a moment, before nodding. "Yes, she wanted me to come over after school, and thought it would be nice to see you, if you weren't too busy."

It is long before they arrive at Edelgard's house, and she lets them in. Byleth is glad to see that she looks like she's feeling okay, so she hopes that the family visit wasn't over anything too urgent. She's surprised that her house is otherwise empty, but Edelgard explains that she only lives with her father, and he isn't around right now. Though she doesn't go into further detail, Byleth also doesn't ask, sensing that she doesn't want to talk about it.

Hanging out with her and Hubert isn't much different than talking to them at school, but it's nice to get to spend time with them either way. She leaves a message with her father that she'll be having dinner at a friend's house, just in case he happens to be home tonight, but time passes so quickly, and before she knows it, it's rather late.

"Would you like to stay over?" asks Edelgard. "It's getting pretty late, and since tomorrow is Saturday…"

Byleth has never spent the night with a friend before, and is surprised to suddenly be invited to do so. Before she can think of what to say, Hubert says, "Are you sure about that, Edelgard?"

"Hubert…" She gives him a look that Byleth can't quite read, before turning back to Byleth. "It's up to you, but it's fine if you want to stay."

"I'd love to," Byleth replies, and Hubert doesn't have any further argument. He leaves not long after that, and Edelgard asks her if she's ready to sleep.

"My room probably won't be comfortable for both of us, but if I bring out some blankets, the living room will work," she says. The two of them set up camp on opposite couches, and Byleth falls asleep not long later.

She doesn't know what wakes her up in the middle of the night, nor does she know what time it is. All she knows is that the room is empty, and Edelgard is not laying on the couch anymore. At first, she tries to fall back asleep, but when she hears a soft sound coming from the kitchen, she decides to check on Edelgard.

_She's probably just getting some water _, she thinks, and wonders if she should go back to sleep instead, but she's already up, so she follows through with it and heads for the kitchen. And that's where she finds Edelgard, standing in front of the open refrigerator, and the light from that illuminates her just enough that Byleth can see she's been drinking from a glass of something red in her hands.

There's red on her face as well, and in this light, it looks like she's been drinking blood.


	11. Chapter 11

"Byleth, what are you doing up?" asks Edelgard, in such a calm voice that Byleth is certain that it's all a misunderstanding, created by the dark lighting and her hazy, half-asleep state, and that Edelgard is just drinking tomato juice, or something like that.

"I just...heard you in here," she replies, and Edelgard sighs.

"Well, I guess that's that. Hubert warned me about this, so I shouldn't be surprised," she says.

"Surprised? What did Hubert warn you about, exactly?" Is it possible that she really is drinking blood?

"I can see it in your eyes. You've got an idea of what's going on, so why don't you tell me what you think it is?" Edelgard closes the refrigerator, and turns to face her, and Byleth doesn't know what to say.

"I...you're not in some weird cult, are you?" she tries, earning a dry laugh from Edelgard.

"Is now really the time for jokes? If that's a serious question, then no, I'm not in a cult. Why don't you try again?"

"Are you...are you a serial killer, or a vampire?" she finally asks.

"Which one is more believable?"

Byleth doesn't have an answer for that. "There isn't a serial killer, is there?" she finally says.

"Well, the attacks are certainly happening, but by definition, that's right. There isn't any serial killer, but there is a vampire." Just like that, Edelgard admits to it; just like that, she admits to something that should be impossible, and Byleth has to wonder if she's still asleep.

But by now she's certain that she's wide awake.

"And that's...you, isn't it?"

"You're taking this surprisingly calmly," she replies. "It's not everyday you go to a sleepover and find out your friend is a vampire."

Byleth feels like she needs to sit down, but she steadies herself. She isn't sure why she's behaving so calmly, but even if this is the sort of situation that would cause most people to freak out, she can't bring herself to do that. Aside from being rendered nearly speechless, she supposes she is taking all of this rather well. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, she wonders if she should be afraid for her life.

"Nothing to say?" Edelgard snaps her out of her thoughts.

"I just...don't know where to start?"

"Why don't we go back to the living room?" she suggests, before leading Byleth there. And, once they're sitting on their opposite couches, she says, "I haven't always been like this. You remember Ferdinand talking about my hair?"

"He said you dyed it over the summer."

"That's what I've been telling people, yes, and even though most of them have realized it doesn't seem like something I would do, no one is questioning it too much," she replies. "But my hair color is just a side effect of something else that happened over the summer, something I'd rather not remember."

So she was turned, then. Falling asleep the night before, Byleth was still convinced vampires didn't exist, and any thoughts she has regarding a classmate of hers were stupid paranoia. Now, she's willingly accepted Edelgard's explanation, and opened her mind to the idea without hesitation. She isn't sure what it says about her that she's willing to trust someone she just saw drinking blood out of her refrigerator so easily, but then, doesn't that only serve to make her story more believable?

"After that happened, it's been a long journey to figure out what I can and can't do. I was afraid I would have to drop out of school and go missing, but I found ways to hide it. For instance, have you wondered how I can go outside?"

"You always stay so late after school," Byleth says, realization dawning on her.

"Exactly. I won't burst into flames in direct sunlight, or do anything else that would immediately give me away, but it's exhausting, and hurts a little bit and for a while afterwards. If my skin is covered, then the effects are lessened, and if it's overcast, or early morning when the sun is just rising, or evening, when it begins to set, it isn't as hard on me. I used to stay late on occasion for extracurriculars, so it just seems like I've become even more serious."

"So that was why you went straight home when it was storming that day."

Edelgard nods. "It was so dark outside that it was the perfect chance. So, that's the main issue, but then there's the matter of my new diet. Obviously, I can still eat the foods I had before, as you see everyday at lunch, but it's all empty. It's the weirdest feeling, let me tell you, to be able to stuff my face with anything I want, and still feel just as hungry as when I started.

"Human blood is pretty much my only option. I don't have to feed often, and if I drain a body completely and save some for later, then I don't have to hunt often either, hence how sporadic the attacks are. Hubert is the one who helps me with draining and storage, though I try not to ask questions when it comes to his...knowledge of that kind of stuff."

It's then that Byleth has to remember that she's sitting across from the girl responsible for the mysterious deaths around town; that, even if Edelgard is not, by definition, a serial killer, she's still _the serial killer _that everyone is afraid of. Even knowing that it's all for survival, she wonders if it's hard, wonders if Edelgard feels remorse each time she takes a life, but knows better than to ask a loaded question like that. Even knowing that she's letting her bias blind her, she decides then and there that if it's Edelgard, if it's someone that she knows, if it's her friend, then she can look the other way and ignore the negative implications.

She's answered a lot of questions, but there's one more that is heavy on Byleth's mind. With her bringing up Hubert, it seems like the perfect time to ask, and so she says, "About Hubert…"

"Yes, Hubert he knows," Edelgard replies, answering a question that Byleth did not intend to ask. "He and I have always been close, so I knew if there was anyone I could tell...my father doesn't know, but that's a difficult situation, and I don't want to trouble him with something like this when I barely get to see him anyway."

Though she now also wants to ask more about Edelgard's family situation, she doesn't want to change the subject. "No, I meant...you know, what about Hubert?"

"What about him?" Edelgard raises a brow.

"Is he...you know...too?"

"Is he..._ oh _, you mean…" At that, Edelgard laughs, and Byleth realizes just how silly the question was, and feels a little stupid for asking. But, up until that moment, it felt entirely plausible. "No, Hubert is just...Hubert. Though I've heard some people have said that about him at school. He said he doesn't mind being my scapegoat, can you believe that?"

"That...does sound like him," she says, hoping she can cover how embarrassed she is for asking.

"You should get some sleep," Edelgard says, abruptly changing the subject after laughing a little more. "It's late, I don't want to keep you up."

"What about you? Do you sleep?"

"I'm supposed to be nocturnal, I know that much, but it wouldn't work out with school and stuff. I can sleep at night, it's just harder to fall asleep and stay asleep. Still, don't stay up just because I'm having trouble," she says. "Unless...you're not afraid I'll suck your blood, are you? I had enough of a chance earlier, so you've got nothing to worry about now."

Byleth is fairly certain that Edelgard is just teasing her, and is again struck by how calmly she's taking this. Does she trust her as much as she trusts Hubert, to allow her to carry a secret like this? Shouldn't she have a right to be worried, that Edelgard might silence her? Trying to figure it at all out and wrap her head around everything reminds her of how tired she is, so she manages a smile and says, "Alright, I trust you."

"We'll talk more in the morning," Edelgard assures her. "Goodnight, Byleth."


	12. Chapter 12

Byleth doesn't know what wakes her up the next morning, but when she opens her eyes, she nearly jumps out of her skin. For one thing, she isn't in the bedroom that she has gotten used to over the past couple months, which is surprising enough, but what really freaks her out is that there is someone standing over her looking down at her.

That someone also happens to be Hubert.

Suddenly, the events of the day before come rushing back to her, and she remembers that she stayed the night with Edelgard. Hubert must have just come over early, and him coming into the room is what woke her up, but then...she jumps again when she remembers the night before, or rather, earlier that morning, when she got up, and saw Edelgard in the kitchen…

It must have been a dream, no matter how vivid, there's absolutely no way-

"Well, good morning, Byleth," Hubert says, his general demeanor turning what would normally be a chipper greeting into a taunt. "Edelgard tells me you found her out, and it looks like she's decided to trust you with something that big, for whatever reason."

He says it all so nonchalantly, but this freezes Byleth in her tracks. If it were only a dream, there would be no way Hubert could tease her about it, because there would be no way for him to know. She would be less likely to believe that he was a mindreader than Edelgard a vampire, after all.

"She also said you thought _I _might be a vampire as well." Now, he cracks a smile, and she briefly fears for her life. "I'd heard even your little study hall friend bought into that, but I'm honestly a little hurt that you would assume that."

"Can you blame her?" When Edelgard speaks up, Byleth hurriedly sits up to see that Edelgard has come into the room and is shaking her head.

"Not one bit, actually. You should both know my sense of humor by now. Especially you, Edelgard," he replies.

"H-hey, I just…" Byleth starts, but doesn't finish her sentence. She's never been particularly talkative, but she's never had so much trouble figuring out what to say before. Lately, it seems like all she does is not know what to say, with the two in front of her able to fluster her without even trying.

"Sorry about all this," Edelgard says. "I decided to go ahead and tell him you found out, you know, and rip the bandaid off, and he demanded to come over right away. I've been doing my best to convince him not to intimidate you to death, but we'll see if anything I said sunk in."

"You can be so cruel to me," says Hubert, feigning hurt again. "Ultimately, it's your secret to keep, and if you really think she can be trusted, all I can do is follow along, right? But you were the one who asked me to help you protect that secret, so if I thought she weren't trustworthy, it would be up to me to deal with that."

"Hubert, do you really have to sound so _threatening _all the time? This is exactly why it's always been just the two of us."

"And yet Byleth doesn't seem to mind it one bit, considering she's still here," he says with a smirk. "Besides, up until now, you haven't seemed to mind it being just the two of us, and now that we've found a friend who doesn't mind, I'd say it's all worked out."

Byleth is stunned by how _normal _the two of them are acting. It could be just another conversation during art class; they could be making fun of Ferdinand after finally getting rid of him at lunch. Instead, their talking about letting Byleth in on the major secret that junior class president Edelgard von Hresvelg was turned into a vampire over summer vacation and is now attempting to blend in with humans while feeding on them every few weeks, and creating an uproar as a major serial killer. It would be enough to make anyone's head spin, and she's surprised by how well she is taking it all.

"Still," Hubert continues, "if I thought she were any real threat, you know I wouldn't be afraid to deal with."

"Hubert, cut it out! You really don't need to threaten her, alright? After all, I'm more than capable of taking care of my business on my own, as I'm sure you know." There is a brief flash of _something _in Edelgard's eyes, something that Byleth has never seen before, and she is reminded of the fact that, no matter how casual she may act about it now, she is still very dangerous.

Pairing that with how generally menacing Hubert is, and this situation is more than a little terrifying, and yet, Byleth is not simply scared. There is a part of her she can't explain, that finds this to be quite thrilling as well. Perhaps a little _too _thrilling.

They spend the rest of the day in, and Hubert and Edelgard help Byleth begin to make sense of the time they've spent together, put in the context of her newfound knowledge. Edelgard still doesn't give a lot of information about the day she was turned, or who did it, but Byleth is left with the knowledge that there are other vampires out there, and many questions about them.

She doesn't ask those questions right now, deciding to respect that Edelgard doesn't want to talk about what happened to her. Instead, she asks for more details about her family situation, wanting to know how she's managed to hide her vampirism from her family.

"I only have my father, and he's never home," is her explanation, a sad expression coming over her face. "Sometimes when I miss school, I go to see him, but the main reason I miss is that, if I go too long without feeding, I can exhaust myself, and going to school can be a little too much. That's why I usually miss directly after attacks."

"Where do you go to visit him?" asks Byleth.

"He's very sick, so he's been hospitalized for a long time now. It probably won't be long before he...so I don't think it's necessary to tell him about what happened to me," Edelgard says. "If anything, he doesn't deserve to have to worry about something like that at the end."

It isn't easy to reply to something like that, and all Byleth can really say is, "I'm...really sorry to hear that." Edelgard offers her a small smile to show her appreciation, before continuing.

"I don't have anyone else, but my family and Hubert's family used to be very close, so that's why he and I are."

"Of course, my family and I couldn't really be considered close anymore," Hubert adds. "But I'm an adult now, so that really doesn't matter."

"I knew you two were close because you've known each other since you were little," Byleth says. "It makes sense that you would trust Hubert, and that he would help you through this."

"And then there's you," says Hubert. "Just the new kid in my class, but you've already found your way into this mess."

"I'm not sure how you managed to do that, either," Edelgard says. "I haven't been close to anyone besides Hubert in a long time, but ever since we met, I just...wanted to be friends with you. Even knowing it was dangerous to make friends now, I decided to take the risk, and I still don't regret it."

Byleth wonders if either one of them can tell that she's blushing, and wonders what she is supposed to do about the way her pulse quickens to hear Edelgard say things like this to her. Enough has happened just since the previous night that it's a wonder she hasn't lost her mind, and yet she's so happy to be considered a friend by these two that she finds herself taking it all in stride.

"Well, you could have chosen someone a lot worse. Byleth isn't...that bad," Hubert begrudgingly admits, which she knows is high praise, coming from him.

Now that she has been let in on the secret, the three of them share a strong bond, and she wonders if she won't feel like an outsider with them anymore as a result. It makes it easier to understand everything, now that she knows, and she wants to do what she can to help, now that she can. Sparing no second thoughts to what that might entail, Byleth decides to stay on Edelgard's side, no matter what it may mean to help a vampire.

What she doesn't realize is that she was already involved, before she made this decision, and even before she discovered her friend's secret.


	13. Chapter 13

Byleth spends the rest of the day at Edelgard's house, and then spends the night again. Hubert stays with them as well, saying that, as long as Byleth is okay with it, he has no reason to go home. She has a lot of time to think about things while they're hanging out, and she still reaches no conclusion other than that she still doesn't want to do anything to expose Edelgard, and she isn't afraid of her nor does she take all that much issue with Edelgard feeding on people.

Though she knows that it's selfish and biased, she cares more about Edelgard than she does those strangers.

The thought comes to her naturally, and she's beginning to understand that she's falling for her friend, and discovering that she is a vampire has done nothing to detract from that. In fact, Edelgard trusting her with that secret has only made her feelings grow. As for Hubert, knowing the truth of his dedication to Edelgard is so admirable that she still can't shake her feelings for him.

For the rest of the weekend, she is often struck by how natural and right everything feels, with the three of them together. It's impossible for her to understand this surge of feelings, or to understand what it means for her to fall for the both of them, but Byleth is happy, happier than she thinks she's ever been. And, even if this is an odd time to count as one of the happiest in her life, it doesn't change anything.

But the weekend is not just filled with happy times and lighthearted conversations. Eventually, Edelgard finds it in her to talk about the summer, and the people who turned her. As she talks, Byleth can see the pain in her eyes, as well as the rage in Hubert's.

"I don't know much about them, or what they're after. All I was able to figure out was that they don't just feed on humans, but have the ability to turn as well," she says. "For whatever reason, they attacked me one night, I was alone in my house, and when I came to, I…"

"You don't have to talk about it right now," Hubert assures her when she trails, and Byleth agrees. However, Edelgard shakes her head, telling them that she just wants to get it out now.

"There were three of them," she says. "Two men, one woman. Varying ages, but I think they were all considerably older than they looked, and they just...explained it to me. What they had turned me into, what my weaknesses and strengths were, how to avoid dying the first time I set foot outside...everything except for who they were, and why they did this to me."

"And that was it," Hubert says. "Just like that, they were gone again."

"I haven't seen them since, and I still don't understand what happened that night. I just...it all felt like some strange nightmare, but if it was, I haven't woken up yet."

Byleth can understand the rage she senses from Hubert, and finds that she shares it. It isn't often that she gets truly angry, but seeing how hurt Edelgard is as she opens up about the past, she knows that she would hate anyone who would put her through this. She has only been painted as a villain by the media, assuming her to be a senseless killer, but seeing her side of the story, Byleth knows that she's a victim. It isn't as if she chose this life for herself, and if she could go back, Byleth is sure that she would.

She wonders if there's any possibility to fix what's been done, and if she would be able to help with it. It's hard to imagine something like that would exist, and if it did, she's sure that Edelgard and Hubert have already looked extensively into it, but even so, she wonders. It doesn't feel right to bring that up right now, so she doesn't, but she won't know how to look into it on her own, or where to start. It's not as if she can just search online with a few keywords, or get a book from the school library.

~X~

Eventually, she has to go back home, so on Sunday evening, Hubert drops her off at her house, telling her that he will see her at school the next day. It seems impossible that they can just return to school like normal after this weekend, but then again, Edelgard and Hubert returned to school on the first day, after everything that happened over the summer.

Her father is home, with his car in the driveway, and when she goes inside, he is sitting on the couch. He gives her a wave, saying, "Have a good weekend?"

She wonders what he would say if she told him that she spent the weekend sharing a room with a boy _and _a vampire. The latter, he would probably laugh at, and the former...she isn't sure what he would think. He's never talked about her dating, never said anything to suggest he's overprotective but he might have never considered it a possibility. Instead of saying either of those things, she says, "I had fun."

"I'm really surprised. It's not like you to be gone the whole weekend." Before she can say anything, he continues with, "That's not a bad thing, don't get me wrong. You just never really hung out with friends a lot before. This move has been good for you, I guess."

There's no way for her to explain the turn of events to him when she doesn't even understand them herself. After never putting any effort into building relationships wherever they went, it's hard to explain how this came to be. Sensing that she's struggling to think of what to say, he says, "I know it's been hard moving around, so I'm glad you made some friends here. And, hey, we should at least be here until you graduate, and then you can stay wherever you want to."

Graduation, huh? Byleth realizes that she hasn't done much thinking about her future. Moving from school to school has meant never having one consistent advisor, and she hasn't met with one at Garreg Mach yet. In fact, she's put so little thought into it that she has no idea what she'll do after school, and now that so much has transpired with Edelgard and Hubert she wonders how everything has affected them. Edelgard is a good student, probably with a bright future, that has more than likely been put on hold by the whole incident. As for Hubert, he's never talked about it, but he should graduate this year as well.

Jeralt talks with Byleth for a little while about school, with Byleth giving him generic answers and not bothering to ask about work, because she's sure he won't have anything to say. All the while, she feels strange, talking to him about mundane things after discovering something major enough to shift her entire perception of the world, but it would be impossible to talk to him about everything she's learned. She can hardly imagine trying to explain to her father that vampires exist, so she will keep that to herself.


	14. Chapter 14

Byleth stays up far too late researching vampires, reading different legends and versions of lore, and loses track of time, resulting in her not nearly getting enough sleep. She can hardly keep her eyes open the next morning in study hall, and with no real results to speak of. All she's really learned is that there are probably as many versions of vampires as there are students in her school, with no way to confirm what is fact and what is fiction.

How many people are out there, posting this stuff online, while having actual proof that what they claim is true? How many of them know these things because they know a real vampire personally, or because they are one herself? More than likely, most of them are just enthusiastic about the fictional aspect, or use the idea of something supernatural as an excuse for something unexplainable happening, and expand upon that to fit their situation into the lore.

Researching probably won't do her any good, but the situation is so bizarre and so outside of her control that it makes her feel a little better just to be able to get a grasp on what kind of information is out there. These thoughts are all swirling around in her head when Caspar calls out to her, snapping her out of them.

"Wow, you sure are out of it today!" he teases. "What, did you not sleep last night?"

"Not really," she admits, and he shakes his head.

"No wonder, then. You look like you're hardly functioning, honestly. You know you can't just show up to school like that!"

"I'll make sure I get more sleep tonight," she says.

"Hey, you know I'm just teasing you. I mean, Miss Casagranda shows up to school hungover all the time, so I'm sure a little sleep deprivation is fine!" he says, gesturing to the front of the classroom. As always, the choir director is slumped over her desk, looking as if she wishes she were anywhere else in the world.

"You shouldn't say things like that," Byleth says, but she can't help laughing a little bit at his joke. Maybe it's just because she's so tired, but it does seem funny to her.

"Still, I really wonder what's got you up so late on a Sunday. Big project due today?" asks Caspar.

"No, nothing like that."

"Not even studying?"

"Not really." Technically, she was, but she doesn't want to even try to explain that one.

"Alright, then you've got some secret boyfriend you were sneaking off with?" he asks, in such a casual tone of voice that Byleth nearly misses what he _actually _says.

"Wh- no, it's nothing like _that _either!" she protests, when she actually processes it, and Caspar bursts out laughing.

"I was just joking, but if you're gonna react like that...well, maybe I was right after all!"

"You are not!"

"Then why are you acting so guilty? I'm totally right!" he says with a grin. "Sneaking around with some guy on a school night? I'm honestly shocked, Byleth. I had no idea you were that kind of person. You seemed like such a rule follower, but I guess even you would do something like that."

"Yeah, except I didn't," she says. "I just had trouble sleeping, don't make this out to be something it isn't."

"Calm down, I'm just joking. I just didn't think you could get so flustered, is all. You're normally so calm, it was too funny to resist messing with you!"

"Not funny at all," she replies, shaking her head, and Caspar just keeps grinning. She hadn't realized how flustered she was, and calms down quickly.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say. _I _think it was pretty funny," he says.

"You're probably just projecting, since you wish you were out with your girlfriend," she deadpans, but, to her surprise, Caspar's face immediately flushes.

"H-hey, me and Petra aren't...I've just been showing her around, I haven't really...hey, that's not fair!" he shouts, attracting a bit of attention and having to immediately quiet down.

"So, the exchange student?" Byleth teases, after anyone looking at them has turned back to their own tasks.

"Shut _up _," Caspar groans. After a pause, his expression shifts to one of concern. "Hey, but...wherever you were last night, or whatever you were doing...I mean, if you were just up late at home, that's fine, but be careful going out so late, alright? Even if you're not alone, it's still dangerous. You don't want to end up getting caught by the vampire."

"Don't worry, I'm being safe," she says, because that is much easier than telling him that he doesn't have to worry, because the vampire has already caught her.

~X~

She doesn't expect Hubert to walk with her after class, but he does, and makes his intentions for doing so very clear when he teases her, "So, what's this I hear about you spending all night with some boy?"

"Caspar is so loud," she mutters, feeling her face heat up. Hubert chuckles.

"That he is. Though I have to admit, you did a good job turning things around on him," he says. "Still, he does have me curious. What _did _keep you up all night? Is there someone you need to tell us about, or were you just having some...nocturnal sympathies?"

"Neither, I just...had trouble sleeping." She doesn't want to admit to what she was doing, feeling a little silly for just googling vampires all night. Not to mention the fact that having Hubert ask her if she's seeing anyone flusters her plenty without factoring in his remark. Someone she needed to tell "us" about, he'd said. With her feelings for both of them growing, it's hard not to get excited over something like that, even if it's probably not how he meant it.

"It'll get easier," he assures her, surprising her with a lack of teasing or sarcastic remarks. Hubert is entirely genuine as he says it, speaking from his own experience with the whole ordeal. "Well, I really do need to get to class, but I'll see you later."

~X~

And just like that, life goes almost back to normal. Despite the weight of the knowledge Edelgard shares with her, Byleth's life continues like nothing has changed, except for how much closer the three of them have gotten. School goes on without anything major happening, Ferdinand bothers them at lunch from time to time, and the three of them spend their weekends together, though the actual event that brought Byleth so deep into their group is rarely discussed.

Byleth continues to research in her free time, always fruitlessly, as she doesn't really know what's real or what would apply to Edelgard, and every time there's an attack, she knows that it's her, and that Hubert is there to support her through it. Sometimes, she wishes that she could be there, not because she thinks she could help in any way, or because she has some sick interest in watching Edelgard take a life, but because she wants to be there to support her as well.

Other than all of that, the next few weeks pass without any major differences, and life goes on as normal.


	15. Chapter 15

It's the end of the day on October 30th, when Claude comes over to talk to her before she leaves the classroom. She and Hubert have gotten in the habit of actually walking together now, so she and Claude have talked less lately, but today, he flags her down before she can leave.

"Hey, wait, before you go home, I've been meaning to ask you something," he says.

"What's that?" asks Byleth.

"Well, as I'm sure you know, tomorrow is Halloween," he replies. "I'm having a Halloween party, and it's mostly open invitation, but I just wanted to make sure you knew you were more than welcome."

"A Halloween party?"

"I don't know if it's really your thing or not, but it'd be great to have you there! And if I could get _you _to come, I could probably get Edelgard to come, and it'd be pretty wild to get to see her cut loose at a Halloween party, if that's even possible." Byleth is surprised at how openly he admits to this, especially with Hubert standing there in earshot. And, as if realizing that Hubert is right there, he continues with, "And you're more than welcome too, I know all three of you pretty much go everywhere together."

"I'm not so sure about that," Hubert replies. "Your questionable motives aside, I don't know if that's the sort of thing we really-"

"Maybe," Byleth interrupts, and Hubert gives her an odd look.

"Maybe?" he echoes, raising a brow.

"I mean, we'll have to talk about it with her, and just talk about it in general, but it's not a hard no," she says. "Just let me know where it is, and we might stop by."

"Alright, sounds great!" Claude replies, looking amused by the whole exchange. He writes down his address, and Byleth and Hubert go on their way.

"A Halloween party, huh?" asks Hubert.

"What?"

"Oh, nothing. Just didn't really peg you as the party type," he replies.

"I'm not normally," she says. "But I've also never had friends to go to parties with, so I thought we could give it a try."

Hubert doesn't have much to say to that, but when they bring up the idea to Edelgard, she is surprisingly receptive. "Claude is always trying to get me to go to those kinds of things," she says, "but I never thought I could drag Hubert out, and I really didn't want to go by myself."

"I would have gone if you'd asked," he says, and if Byleth didn't know better, she'd say he was pouting over the whole ordeal.

"As if you'd really want me to subject you to that," she replies, and Hubert shakes his head.

"Maybe it's not my favorite place in the world to be, but if I'd known you were only holding back on my account...well, it doesn't matter now. I guess the three of us are going to a Halloween party, hm?"

They discuss their plans from that point on, deciding that they'll have to throw together last minute costumes, since none of them had planned to dress up before, but none of them want to deal with the teasing their sure to be met with if they show up in normal clothes. Afterwards, they'll go to Edelgard's house, since it will be empty, and hang out like they normally do.

They wait until it's late after school to go shopping, looking through the picked over accessories and things to put together a costume. Byleth is the one to suggest going as zombies, and just doing some makeup and wearing older clothes, so that they don't have to get a full costume.

~X~

The next day, all three of them bring older clothes, and tear their outfits a little more, dirtying them with the makeup before it applying it to their faces. They do what they can to make themselves look dead, with Hubert remarking, "I'm not sure I need that much work done."

"And you wonder why people at school think you're a vampire," Edelgard says.

"Did I ever say I wonder about that?" Hubert retorts. "I _know _why people think that."

Before long, they're ready, and since the sun has already set, it's time to load up and head to Claude's house. It's a big one, but Byleth expected as much. Edelgard's is pretty big too, but she supposes that's the difference between students there on their parents' dime, and students there on scholarship because their dad knows somebody.

"Time to satisfy my curiosity about high school parties," Edelgard says, before the two of them head inside.

Byleth supposes she shouldn't be surprised when she sees the number of vampire costumes there are in the room, but for a moment, she's taken aback. She expected to see one or two at most, considering it's a Halloween staple, but there's quite a bit more than that. There's no denying that, rather than thinking about it a little more sensitively, there are several students who are dressed as vampires specifically _because _of what's going on.

"That's...in poor taste," Byleth comments, wondering if it's bothering Edelgard at all.

"It was bound to happen," she says. "They're just as scared as anyone else, but isn't that what Halloween is about? Facing your fears through your costume, or something like that?"

"I'd say it's less that and more just riding the hype and trying to be funny," Hubert replies.

"In a way, that's the same thing. If it's funny, you can laugh at it, and if you can laugh at it, it's less scary."

Byleth isn't sure how to feel about Edelgard talking about herself in such a detached tone, saying "it" as if she isn't the one they're afraid of, and the one they need to laugh at to ease those fears. She knows it must hurt, but the fact that she's able to detach herself from it, without showing a hint of emotion on her face, means that she's spent a great deal of time thinking about it. Byleth can't even imagine.

Eventually, they run into Claude, who starts to thank Byleth for convincing Edelgard to come out, only to get distracted by another group of people trying to talk to them, and then, the three aren't sure what to do. They stand off to the side, watching their classmates have fun, and wonder why they bothered to come in the first place.

"Well, I never expected to see the three of you here!" They all groan in unison when Ferdinand comes over to talk to them, but he doesn't seem to notice, grinning. "How long have you been here?"

"Too long," Edelgard replies. "What, exactly, do we do for fun here?"

"You just have fun," he says, shaking his head. "Maybe mingle a little, and talk to people."

"I have to do enough of that _at _school."

"Edelgard, no offense, but why did you want to come, with that attitude?"

"I'm beginning to wonder that myself," she replies, and again, Ferdinand laughs.

"Well, it's great to see you all out and about either way," he finally says, and, after lingering a moment longer, moves on and leaves them alone again.

"Do you all want to leave?" Edelgard asks after a moment, and Hubert and Byleth are quick to agree. Their stay at the party is altogether brief, and the only person they really talked to there was Ferdinand.

Once they're in the car, Edelgard says, "Byleth, I...it's about time for me to...feed again. I was hoping it wouldn't have to be tonight, but I'm getting kind of hungry, and I'm afraid if I don't, I might…"

"That's fine, I understand," she replies.

"Well, if you'd like for us to drop you off at the house first…or, if you'd like, you can come with us?"

Her heart skips a beat when she hears the offer. She knows this shouldn't be something she's excited about, considering what it entails, but she also knows that to be included signifies yet another change in their relationship, and she wants to be a part of everything that she can.

"I want to go with you," she finally says, and Hubert nods, starting the car so that Edelgard can search for her next meal.


	16. Chapter 16

She stays behind while Edelgard selects and attacks her victim, as does Hubert. This is something that Edelgard requests of them, and something that Hubert has always done. She doesn't want them to see her in the act of killing someone, which is understandable, and by the time it's all said and done, she has the victim face down on the ground, so that Byleth cannot see their face.

Soon enough, she will see them on the news; there will be no way to avoid that.

She doesn't know if Edelgard has a particular method for selecting her victims, or if it is completely random, and she doesn't ask or try to think about it. Knowing those things won't actually change her feelings for her friend, and knowing that she is blinded by her feelings doesn't change anything about how she views it. Ignorance is bliss, or so they say, and if she's going to take a stance, she is going to take the same stance that Hubert takes.

She watches as Edelgard looks up, blood dripping from her face, and she is beautiful and terrifying. Something shifts when they make eye contact, or at least, it feels that way to Byleth, in a way that she cannot fully describe. But she feels like something shifts, and she can't look away, until Hubert walks past her, and she looks to him then, and the way he looks at Edelgard. Sensing her eyes on him, he looks back to her, making eye contact for just a second before turning his attention back to Edelgard. It's time to help her drain the body dry, saving enough for later, so that she won't have to do this for another couple weeks or so.

None of them speak as this goes on, but Byleth still feels as though things have changed. There is something different in the air, even after they've abandoned the scene, even when they're in the car.

Edelgard is the first one to break the silence, saying, "So, terrified of me yet?"

"I'm not," Byleth says simply.

"You've taken all of this pretty well. I can't imagine there are many people who wouldn't try to run away from the beginning, but especially not after that."

"I'm not going to run away," she replies, and Edelgard smiles, saying nothing else. Hubert doesn't weigh in on the conversation, but Byleth notices that he seems close to smiling as well.

~X~

Once they're back at Edelgard's house and settled in for the night, excess blood stored away, Edelgard seems eager to talk about pretty much anything else that she can. Mostly, they talk about school and how things have been with that, before moving on to the party and commenting on who they saw there, their costumes, what they were doing, and so on.

"And of course we couldn't escape Ferdinand," she says, "which I should have expected, all things considered, but I'd really hoped he might be distracted. As if we'd ever be that lucky."

"He seemed pretty excited to get to see you," Byleth replies, holding back laughter at the look that crosses Edelgard's face.

"Excited to pester me, sure! I can only imagine what was running through his head, or how he thought he could use whatever we talked about at a party to defeat me," she says with a scowl. "He's probably already planning his campaign for senior year, so maybe he was hoping I would do something to embarrass myself so he could use it against me, like a crooked politician. Or maybe he was going to challenge me to some kind of contest, so everyone else could judge 'once and for, who the best of us is'!" She finishes her sentence doing quotation marks with her fingers, and speaking in a voice mocking Ferdinand's.

"What a lovely impression," Hubert teases. "And it would not surprise me in the least if that was Ferdinand's aim."

"Maybe, but I think he was happy to see all of us," says Byleth, laughing along with them. "Sometimes I think he might just want to be friends."

"Hm, well, he could go about it a number of other ways," Edelgard says, dismissing the topic entirely.

As they continue to talk about the party, the subject of the vampire costumes eventually comes up, as Byleth was sure it would, and the topic turns grim from that point on. Edelgard apologizes, saying, "I know I have no right to be so offended, it's not as if anyone knows what it's like, but...even so, if they did know...well, first of all, they'd be terrified of me, but beyond that...I don't know what I'm trying to say."

"No one else can really understand what you're going through. It's understandable to be frustrated," Hubert reassures her.

"Even I hardly know what I'm going through," she says, more to herself than either of them, but Byleth decides to speak up then.

"I...I know that there's no way to know, but...there are things I've heard before, about...well." Somehow, saying the word 'vampire' out loud feels strange at this point. "There are legends that say, if you were to kill the one who turned you…" Byleth trails off, feeling ridiculous for suggesting it, but neither Edelgard or Hubert scold her or make fun of her for it.

"Truth be told, I've considered it," Edelgard finally replies. "But I'm not so sure that's really true, and even if it were, well...I don't even know where to find them. I don't even know who turned me, out of the three of them, though, if I'm being honest...I would probably want to kill them, all three of them, either way. I just don't know if it would do any good. Hell, I don't even know if it was one of them who turned me, or if there was someone else, who wasn't there when I woke up."

"I see," Byleth says.

"I appreciate you looking into it for me," she says. "Actually, maybe going out for revenge isn't a bad idea. Even if it doesn't turn me back, I won't know until I try."

"You wouldn't alone. I don't know what use I'd have, but you know that I'll support you however I can," Hubert says.

"So will I," Byleth agrees, surprising herself with how little hesitation she has, signing herself up to fight vampires. But it feels right, and she knows that she has no other choice. She's known them for such a short time, but already, she's closer to them than she's ever been to anyone else, and wherever Hubert and Edelgard go, she knows that she wants to follow.

"You...both of you...I don't know what I'd do without you," Edelgard says, and it looks as if she might be tearing up. "I know I've said that to you a million times before, Hubert, but...Byleth, even though we just met at the beginning of the year, I…you're so important to me, I don't know…"

"I feel the same way. About both of you. I don't really know how to explain it, I just know-" Byleth doesn't have a chance to finish her sentence.

She doesn't have a chance to finish her sentence, because Edelgard, who watches her intently as she speaks, suddenly lunges forward, pressing her lips to Byleth's, effectively silencing her. And all Byleth can do is relax into the kiss, until Edelgard pulls back, looking to her with a shy expression.

Hubert stands up then, saying, "I'll...give you two some privacy," but Byleth, emboldened by the kiss from Edelgard, will have none of that. She stands as well, stopping him in his tracks so that she can kiss him as well, stunning him completely.

The next thing she knows, all three are piled up together, kissing each other again and again, not sure who she kisses last or will kiss next.


	17. Chapter 17

There isn't much one can say after making a scene like that, and especially nothing that can be said to undo it. And so, with that out of the way, the three of them have no choice but to move forward with their relationship.

"I guess it isn't normal to feel this way, but I think it's obvious how I feel about you. About both of you," Edelgard says. "What I have with you two...it's more than just friendship, and it has been for a while."

"I feel the same way," Byleth replies, looking between the two of them. "Hubert...well, Hubert caught my attention from my very first class. I'd never liked anyone like _that _before, but it didn't take me long to figure out that's what was going on. Which made it harder to figure out I liked Edelgard, but…"

"Because you were afraid to like more than one person," Edelgard says. "I'll admit, I've been interested in you from the first day of school too. Hubert had mentioned there being a new student, and it was weird that he talked about anyone else at all, and then I met you, and...I'm not really sure what happened, I just wanted to get closer to you. Even after what happened this summer, and me promising myself I wouldn't let anyone else get close to me."

They both turn to Hubert then, who hasn't actually addressed his feelings yet, and he shakes his head. "So, what, now it's my turn? These aren't topics that I'm particularly well-versed in, you know. Besides, Edelgard...while Byleth admits she's been smitten since she first laid eyes on me, you haven't mentioned when _your _feelings shifted."

"I never said-" Byleth starts, but Edelgard interrupts her.

"Probably the same time yours did, Hubert. Isn't that obvious enough?"

"So, then, your feelings never actually shifted," he says. "If it's the same as it was for me, you've always had them, just below the surface, but never acted on them, because of the history."

"We were always so close," she replies. "If there was never going to be anyone else in my life, then it didn't matter to me if we never took things further. Everyone else thought we were dating until we told them otherwise, so I was happy to live like that and not risk the friendship."

As Byleth listens to the two of them go back and forth, she nearly starts to feel left out, before Hubert looks to her and says, "But then Byleth happened."

"Exactly. Byleth happened."

"What exactly did I do about all of this?" she asks.

"You threw off our entire dynamic," Hubert replies. "Made things a little less comfortable, shook it up, we both took an interest in you, and _that _was certainly different."

"I knew you liked her, you know," Edelgard says, and he smirks.

"Did you, now? Because, for a while there, I'm pretty sure she thought I hated her."

"Well, if you're intentionally intimidating someone, they're probably going to think that, Hubert. But, no, I know you well enough to notice a difference, and how could I act on my feelings when the boy I liked ended up liking the _girl _I liked?"

"So you see how difficult it was for me, then. After all, I've always thought I could give up anything if you needed me to, but now, not only was it the first person besides you to catch my eye, but with the situation you're in, I couldn't even advise you to go after her, even if I didn't try to go after her myself."

"For the record," Byleth cuts in, though she somewhat enjoys their back and forth, "I was one of the people who thought you were dating until you told me otherwise. And I thought it was really weird that I wasn't jealous, and when you told me you were just friends, there was _definitely _a part of me that hoped the two of you would get together. Even though I also definitely had a crush on both of you."

"Well. At least we've managed a solution to that, no matter how unorthodox that solution may be," Edelgard says. "So, now that we've settled that we can all date each other, what are we supposed to do from here? You know, because our lives weren't complicated enough already."

"It'll probably be hard to explain to people," Byleth says. "We'd get a lot of unwanted attention if we were public about all three of us dating."

"And unwanted attention is the last thing Edelgard needs right now," Hubert agrees. "If the two of you would like to be public, I don't mind hanging around the sidelines at school."

"And how is that fair to you?" Edelgard asks. "While I agree that it might be best to keep this to ourselves, I'm not going to let you do that."

"Well, _I _am not going to let _you _sit it out either, and I already know that you're going to say Byleth can't be the secret either, even if she offers."

"That's exactly right. So, if we don't want any extra attention, we should just carry on as we are. After all, we're all pretty good at keeping secrets, don't you think?" Byleth and Hubert both agree, and the three of them decide to just behave as friends at school.

~X~

As usual, they spend the entire weekend together, and when Byleth gets home, she sees that her father is back. She'd sent him a message to let him know where she was, and hadn't gotten any reply, though that didn't surprise her. He's been busy with work lately, and gone even more often than usual. More than anything, him being home is a surprise, but not nearly as surprising as what she sees when she enters the door.

He must have just gotten back not longer before Hubert dropped her off, because he hasn't had much of a chance to clean himself up yet. Which is to say that he hasn't changed yet, and she can clearly see that there's blood soaked into his shirt. Not his own, unless he's got a hidden wound, but there's no mistaking it for anything other than blood.

"Where have you been?" Byleth asks, staring at the stain.

"I...I've been working. Where else?" replies Jeralt, but he turns, angling himself away, as if he could hide what she's already seen.

"Did you get hurt? Did someone else get hurt? What's going on?"

"It's nothing you need to worry about," he says, after pausing for a moment. "Just normal work stuff."

"How is that normal work stuff?" she asks, and he immediately looks like he regrets not coming up with a better excuse. "Where do you even _work _?"

"That's none of your business," he says, turning completely so that he can head for his room. But Byleth isn't satisfied, and she follows behind him.

"How is it _not _my business? I'm your daughter, and you disappear all the time without telling me where you're going or what you're doing, we uproot and move all the time because of your job. After all that, don't you think I at least deserve to know what you're doing?"

"Byleth…"

"I have a friend at school. His dad is a cop, I saw him on the news recently. If I asked any of my friends what their parents do, they could tell me. They would think it was pretty weird that I've never had any idea what you do," she says.

"Kid, that's enough," he says, his voice suddenly stern. "I don't care what the other kids at school are like, or what their parents do. I guarantee it's a different situation, and that's all I'm gonna say on the subject."

"But I-"

"Since when have you cared this much about _anything _?" he asks. "You've changed. What happened?"

She knows that it's meant to be a distraction, but when he says it, it throws her off nonetheless. In a way, she understands what's changed, but she can't even begin to tell him about Edelgard and Hubert and everything she's experienced with them. She can't tell him that she's dating her two best friends. She can't tell him that it all started because she watched one of their friends drain a stranger of their blood.

"I...don't…" She trails off, and he opens the door to his room, making it clear that he won't let her follow him.

"We both have our secrets, so let's leave it at that. This conversation is over." With that, he closes the door behind him.


	18. Chapter 18

Byleth's argument with her father doesn't continue, because she hardly sees him after their fight, and when she does, one of them is usually on their way out, so neither has the time to even think about bringing it up again. It's dropped like it never happened, and any concerns she has for her father's line of work have to be forgotten. If he won't tell her, there's nothing she can do about it, and all she can do is ignore the hint of dread that begins to creep into her mind whenever she remembers the blood on his shirt.

This feeling greatly contrasts the happiness that comes with a new relationship, and even if the three of them keep things private, and even though their dynamic hardly changes, when they're alone, there's a lot more physical affection, something that Byleth never knew that she needed so much. It's strange and wonderful and somehow feels even more natural than their friendship, and even though she started the school year as an outsider, as November progresses, she finds herself so close to them that their years of history don't seem nearly so intimidating.

School continues like always, with no one suspecting the change that took place. Considering the three of them were always together at lunch and during art, and Edelgard and Hubert's previous closeness, there isn't much of a difference to notice, but still, Byleth almost feels like they're getting away with something.

Ferdinand remains a frequent feature in their lives, stopping by to bug them whenever he has the chance, but even that feels natural, and Byleth could hardly imagine what would happen if he suddenly decided to mind his own business. She doesn't mention this to Edelgard or Hubert, but he almost feels like an unofficial part of their friend group, even moreso when she considers that there's a big chance he just wants to be friends with them, and doesn't know how best to go about it. That is also something that she doesn't mention to them.

Nothing changes where Ferdinand is concerned, and nothing changes where Caspar is concerned either. Hubert keeps to himself during study hall just like always, and Byleth doesn't mind that he avoids her while Caspar talks her ear off, especially because he often more than makes it up to her after school. And Caspar is none the wiser, always going on about whatever might be happening in his life or around the school, and Byleth is able to remain completely indifferent, feigning interest at just the right moments, whenever he decides to talk about the vampire attacks, which continue to baffle the police.

November passes by, and before long, Thanksgiving break is upon them. Byleth isn't surprised that her father won't be around for the holiday, because they've never done much to celebrate it before anyway. As for Edelgard, she doesn't have any plans either, and Byleth essentially invites herself over before the two of them turn their attention to Hubert.

"Well, I was going to invite Edelgard to suffer with me with my family before _you _happened," he says to Byleth, "and I wasn't sure how my family would feel if I brought a guest they hadn't met before, but I think abandoning the celebration altogether is a much better idea."

So the three of them spend the entirety of the break at Edelgard's house, leaving only when they absolutely have to, and ignoring the holiday completely. By the time Monday rolls around, Byleth feels like she could just move in, and that might be preferable to having to go back home.

~X~

With November over and December going by at a rapid pace, the students of Garreg Mach have only two things on their minds; the final exams will take place just before they go on winter break, and on the Friday night after their last exam, a winter dance will take place. Unlike most of the public schools in the area, due to their lack of focus on sports over academics, they didn't have a homecoming dance to accompany the homecoming game back in October, so this is the major dance of the first semester.

Hubert, Byleth, and Edelgard would have gone as friends before anything happened between them, but now that they are secretly dating, they'll all be going together, as friends on the surface, but, known only to them, as dates. Whether or not they'll actually do much dancing, or just watch everyone else like they did at the Halloween party, has yet to be determined.

Caspar seems excited about the whole thing, saying, "It's the only chance I really get, since I can't go to prom until next year, you know? Last year was kind of lame, but I just went in a group with some friends, and none of them are even big into the whole dance thing. This year, though, I'm going to ask someone!"

"Is it the exchange student you've got a crush on?" Byleth asks, and Caspar's face goes red.

"Would you cut that out? But...yeah, I'm gonna try to take Petra. She says they don't really do stuff like that at her old school, so I'm gonna show her a great time," he replies. "What about you? Got any big plans?"

"Not really," she says. "I'm going in a group with Hubert and Edelgard, but that's about it."

"You can come clean, you don't have to keep secrets from me. You have a crush on Hubert, don't you?" he asks, smirking and leaning forward like they're sharing a secret, but he doesn't put much effort into lowering his voice. "If you get to tease me about Petra, it's only fair."

Though her statement about going in a group wasn't technically a lie, Byleth has no choice but to lie when she says, "Sorry, but you're wrong about that. Hubert's just a friend."

"I dunno about that...well, if it's not him, then is it Edelgard? You're totally into her, aren't you? Come on, you can tell me!"

"Sorry to disappoint, but she's just a friend too. We're going as friends, Caspar," Byleth lies again, and he sighs with a shrug.

"Well, you can't blame me for trying. Still, it isn't fair that you get to tease me all the time. One of these days, I'm gonna get you back for that, alright?"

"If you say so," she says, shaking her head.

After class, Hubert joins her, and, when he's certain that they're not near anyone who would care if they overheard, says, "So, we're all just friends, now? I would hate to think what Edelgard would say if I told her you said that."

"You know I had to lie," she replies without missing a beat. "Couldn't let Caspar catch on."

"Well, maybe if your crushes were a little less obvious…" Hubert teases, and Byleth might shove him to shut him up, but she's sure a display of affection like that would be even more obvious, so she has to endure his teasing.


	19. Chapter 19

"What do you want, Ferdinand?" Edelgard asks when he approaches their lunch table, asking him before he even has a chance to speak. "If this is about the meeting yesterday, I think I already made all of my points very clear. You can debate it all you want, but both Claude and Lorenz agreed with me over you, so I think that's all that really needs to be said."

"So quick to make assumptions, Edelgard," he replies. "Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something else. That is, the winter dance is almost here, and-"

"If you'd like to volunteer to decorate for it, Lorenz is actually handling the sign-ups for that," she says, stopping him short again.

Sighing, Ferdinand shakes his head. "It's not about that! And for your information, my name happened to be first on the list. But that is beside the point! I wanted to ask you who you were going to the dance with!"

Byleth and Hubert share a look before looking back to Edelgard, who seems conflicted for a moment before finally answering, "I'm going in a group with these two."

"So neither of them are your date, then?" he asks, and Byleth suddenly realizes exactly where this is going. She almost wishes either she or Hubert had spoken up to say they were Edelgard's date, even if that would have made the other seem like a third wheel at the actual dance.

"I...no, we're going in a group, so-"

"So, then, perhaps you'd like to be _my _date?" he asks with a warm smile, and both Byleth and Hubert can only gawk at him in surprise.

Edelgard's cheeks redden, only just now realizing his intentions, and she quickly says, "Absolutely not, Ferdinand. I'd like to be able to enjoy a night without you taking every turn to harass me about my supposed failings in the student government."

Ferdinand's face falls, and he starts to say something before simply nodding. "That wasn't my intention, but you're already going with friends, so I understand. Still...if you'd like to save a dance for me, I would not turn you down."

He gives up fairly easily, leaving their table after only a few minutes, which is much easier than it normally is. Byleth can't help but feel bad for him, only to leave herself wondering why she isn't more jealous, and why she almost wishes Edelgard had been less harsh on him. As she and Hubert tease her about her popularity, she gets so flustered that Byleth begins to question just what Ferdinand really is to all of them.

~X~

The winter dance is not much more lively than the Halloween party, perhaps even less so due to the number of chaperones, and the three of them once again wonder why they bothered showing up to begin with. For the most part, they hang off to the side by themselves, and Byleth keeps a look out for Caspar, spotting him dancing- or attempting to- with a girl that she assumes must be Petra. They look happy together, so she hopes that tonight ends up working out in his favor.

Eventually, Ferdinand, after looking over to their group a few times, finally walks over to them, and asks, "If you aren't dancing, would you mind dancing with me?"

"You really don't give up, do you?" asks Edelgard, raising a brow and putting on an icy tone to cover up how much this must be embarrassing her. It's hard to tell exactly what she's feeling beyond that, but Ferdinand is persistent.

"If not you, I could dance with either of your friends," he suggests.

"Not on your life," Hubert replies, and Byleth simply shrugs. She doesn't have much experience dancing, but she feels a little bad for Ferdinand, and decides she wouldn't mind.

"If it's a matter of sparing them, then I suppose I have no choice," Edelgard says, and Ferdinand brightens considerably, his grin nearly blinding as he offers her a hand. She begrudgingly takes it and he leads her to the dance floor.

"Shall we follow them?" asks Hubert, offering a hand to Byleth.

"Really?" she asks, surprised.

"Well, it's better than standing around and doing nothing, and I suppose it's pointless to come to a dance if we aren't going to dance at all," he says, but his pained expression suggests that this might literally be killing them. "Besides, it will be easier to keep an eye on them if we're closer to them."

"You have a good point," Byleth replies, not admitting how pleasant she finds the idea of being able to dance with Hubert. If she were to ask Edelgard, Edelgard would probably do it just for novelty's sake, but Hubert is a difficult one. The fact that he's offered is pretty amazing, regardless of what his reasons are, and he leads her to the floor, not far from where Edelgard and Ferdinand are together, and for once, not visibly arguing.

Once that's done, it's easier to break the ice, and Hubert has a dance with Edelgard, while Ferdinand insists on having one with Byleth, but while Byleth dances with Edelgard, Hubert decides that he's had enough of this and goes back to the sidelines, ignoring all of Ferdinand's pestering. All in all, it's a pleasant night, and the three of them leave in a fairly good mood.

~X~

"You need to make sure you feed tonight," Hubert says, as they're leaving.

"I know, I know," Edelgard says with a groan. "I've been putting it off for too long. I think my senses are starting to dull a little bit."

"So it needs to be tonight," Hubert insists as he starts the car. "Let's go find someone quickly, and you can get it over with."

Edelgard agrees and the three of them set out, looking for her victim of the night. After that, they're planning on spending the night at her house again, and Byleth is sure that she will spend the bulk of her winter break with the three of them. She doesn't even know if she's going to be able to see her father for Christmas or not, but it wouldn't be the first year that work took him away for the holidays. The two of them still haven't discussed anything after their fight.

"Ferdinand is so pushy," Edelgard says as she sinks down into her seat. "It was almost like we went with him either way."

Remembering something she's thought before, Byleth finally says, "It feels like he's a part of our group sometimes," and the two of them are silent for a moment before Edelgard groans.

"You didn't have to say it, you know?"

"It's kind of true that. He's such a regular part of our lives that he's almost necessary."

"A necessary nuisance, perhaps," Hubert says. "But it is hard to imagine a day without him bothering us, so tonight was just par for the course."

"He isn't a bad guy," Byleth says, and the other two fall silent, the closest they'll probably get to admitting that they don't dislike him.

The conversation is so lively that it might make sense that they're less guarded than usual, and when they stop the car so that they can continue on foot, Edelgard's dulled senses might explain why they don't notice someone else following them, until it's too late, and they've already seen everything.


	20. Chapter 20

Hubert is on Ferdinand in an instant, as soon as he's made his presence known.

It all happens so quickly that Byleth doesn't even register what's happening, that Ferdinand is even there, until Hubert has him pinned to the wall, with a look that could absolutely kill. One moment, everything is as it should be, and the next, they have an intruder that Hubert has already restrained. How did he find them? How long has he been following them?

"What the hell are you doing here?" Hubert hisses, and Ferdinand trembles, his mouth open as he struggles to find the words to speak. If he weren't terrified, he could probably fight his way out of Hubert's grasp rather easily, but he seems too scared to even move, let alone try to fight.

"I-I-I...I-I didn't...H-Hubert...you...and she...a-and, when…" Nothing that he says in response makes a bit of sense. His fear has rendered him incoherent, and they aren't going to get an answer out of him this way. What's more, they run a much bigger risk of attracting attention like this.

"We're getting him out of here," Edelgard says. "Hubert, you can let go of him now."

Hubert nods and steps back, and Ferdinand takes a few shaky steps, looking like he's contemplating running away, wondering if he can even escape this situation. Before he has the chance, Edelgard has lunged at him with such speed that Byleth hardly registers her movement, and she restrains Ferdinand, standing behind him with her arms hooked through his.

She's a good deal smaller than him and shouldn't be able to overpower him with brute strength alone, but she isn't playing by the same rules as anyone else here, so it's no difficult task. Hubert clasps his hand over Ferdinand's mouth while Edelgard carries him to the car, muffling any protests that he might have, and they toss him in the back seat, with Byleth sitting up front so that Edelgard can keep him restrained until they get him back to her house.

~X~

By that point, he's finally settled down a bit, probably only out of necessity, knowing that screaming and fighting won't get him anywhere in this situation. He's still pale with terror as they bring him inside, and Edelgard stands closest to the door to block any attempts at escaping. There is a moment of tense silence before Ferdinand finds his voice again.

"Please!" he cries. "Please don't kill me, I won't tell anyone! I promise, I won't, a-and I'll even do anything you want, just please don't...please don't…"

"And just why shouldn't she kill you?" asks Hubert, his voice coming out more like a snarl as he steps closer to Ferdinand, who shrinks under his gaze. "It isn't as if we can trust you with this. You've always wanted to find some information you could use against Edelgard. With this, I'm sure you could ruin her as much as you've always wanted to."

"N-no!" Now, he seems close to breaking into sobs, and he shakes his head furiously. "That's not true, I won't! I-I'll quit the student council if I have to, okay? Is that enough? Please, I can't...you can't!"

Sighing, Edelgard says, "I want to avoid anything that's going to draw attention to our school. If anything were to happen to one of my classmates, that would inevitably bring the mystery closer to me. It's too suspicious, and besides...I don't exactly want you dead, Ferdinand."

For the first time, he starts to smile a bit and says, "I promise, you won't have to worry about me! I'll just forget everything I saw! I don't even know what I saw, really, so how could I…"

"Why don't you try and explain what you think you saw?" asks Byleth. Hubert scowls at her, but she wants to know exactly where they stand with this. If Ferdinand leaves here with the idea that Edelgard is simply a very fast, very strong serial killer, there's a chance he'll tip off the police anyway, but maybe, if he understands her circumstances, they might even have an ally in him.

It's not something that either of them would ever consider on their own, she knows, but she also knows that things have always been more than what they appeared with Ferdinand. As much as they like to pretend, no one in this room actually hates him, and she's sure that even Hubert doesn't actually want him dead, and just wants to do whatever they have to to make sure that Edelgard doesn't come under suspicion.

"I...b-blood," he says. "I saw a lot of blood, and Edelgard was...it's not real, is it? You're not really a...the killer isn't really…"

"As unbelievable as it may sound, that's exactly the truth," Edelgard says. "Imagine how frustrating it must be for me, to have you constantly badger me about dying my hair white when this is actually just one of the many side effects of what happened this summer."

And so, just like with Byleth, she explains things to Ferdinand, with Hubert interjecting with his side of the story, and Byleth joining in to explain how she got brought into all of this. Ferdinand simply listens to them, trying to process all of the information at once, which is something that Byleth can relate to.

By the end of the story, he has a lot to take in, and all he can say is, "This all sounds completely unbelievable, but I saw enough for myself...I know you're not making it up."

"So, there you have it, Ferdinand," Edelgard says. "What you walked in on was me doing something unpleasant but necessary, and something I would appreciate you not exposing to anyone. I really would hate to kill you."

Ferdinand laughs, but it's a shaky laugh and he pales considerably. "You have my word. I...I swear on my life, I won't tell anyone what I saw tonight."

"You'd better hope you keep that word," Hubert replies. "I would not take the promises you've made lightly, if I were you."

"If she wasn't already scary enough, you sure would be," Ferdinand mutters. "And you're not even the vampire in the room."

Ferdinand ends up staying the entire night with them, occasionally asking more questions about the situation, while never actually telling them why he felt the need to follow them from the dance in the first place. In the back of her mind, Byleth wonders if this was what he wanted all along, minus the finding out Edelgard is actually a vampire thing. Was he following them just because he wanted to try and hang out with them?

As it is, it seems like they'll have to spend a lot of time with him either way, all to make sure that he can be trusted. Today will be the first and many, and he'll likely have many more questions along the way.

"By the way," he says, "I'm...not really sure how any of that works and I'm sorry if this is a weird question, but...are all three of you dating each other, or is it something else?"

Either he's incredibly perceptive or they've not done a good enough job hiding it, but explaining their relationship dynamic to him is absolutely the least strange conversation they've had tonight.


	21. Chapter 21

Naturally, the winter break the three of them were planning to spend together is quickly invaded by Ferdinand, who has decided that he's a part of their group officially now. And it's not as though they can just turn him away with all that he knows, and it's hard not to feel responsible for him now that they've dragged him into this. At least, that would probably be the excuses made by Hubert and Edelgard, and Byleth would never mention that they don't really mind having him around at all.

He spends nearly as much time at Edelgard's house as Byleth and Hubert do, and through this, they begin to discover that he really doesn't have anywhere else he would rather be. Though he has friends at school, seeming to be on good terms with everyone as a result of his position in student council, it becomes apparent that he is not much different from Edelgard in that regard. Though he's on friendly terms with them, though they respect him enough to give him their votes, he isn't actually close to any of them.

But Edelgard has always had Hubert and, more recently, Byleth, while Ferdinand only has his student council meetings and the time he spends bothering them. He has definitely wanted to be friends with them for a very long time, and Byleth doesn't mind him sticking around, especially because they don't have to worry about keeping any secrets from him.

He's a little weird about their relationship at first, wanting to know how exactly it works, but his questions never get _too _personal, and soon enough, he's used to the idea of the three of them being in a relationship, and doesn't mind being a fourth wheel when they hang out. They're all warming up to him more and more as each day goes on, and so, the early half of their winter break is spent with him, and that isn't really a bad thing.

On Christmas, they get their time away from him. Byleth finds out that her father has to be away for work this year, again not an uncommon occurrence, and decides to invite them to her house, just to shake things up a little. She invites Ferdinand as well, but he declines, saying that he has to be with his family. Byleth tries not to think about the fact that he forces a smile as he says it, but the look in his eyes says he would much rather spend the holidays with them, or anywhere else, really.

But it will still be nice to spend the holidays with Hubert and Edelgard, and strange to be at her own house. It's become almost unfamiliar with how much time she spends at Edelgard's, but it's a special occasion, and it's not as if any of them can come up with any other way to liven it up.

~X~

Ferdinand is over for a bit on Christmas Eve, but has to leave in the late afternoon, leaving them alone for the rest of the day and the night. They exchange small gifts first thing in the morning, Edelgard's suggestion, and then spend the rest of the day like they always do, but with Christmas movies on TV. Again, Edelgard's suggestion.

The day passes slowly but at the same time too fast, and it's the best Christmas Byleth can remember having, but then, after the sun has set and when they're debating whether they'll head to bed here or go back to Edelgard's house, Byleth's father returns home.

Or, rather, he stumbles in, very clearly bleeding again, and the fact that he's caught Byleth piled up on the couch with her boyfriend and her girlfriend is far from the biggest concern. She stands up to go help him, but he doesn't even look at her, setting his sights on Edelgard instead.

"Found you," he says, before lunging across the room, his injuries no longer that much of a concern.

Byleth can only watch, frozen in place as the scene unfolds in a blur. Hubert, moving to protect Edelgard, and Jeralt, shoving him out of the way like it's nothing. Jeralt, pulling something from his pocket to attack her, and Edelgard disarming him quickly, strong and suddenly fierce, and it is only then that Byleth finds her voice.

"Stop it!"

"I'm trying to _protect _you, kid!" Jeralt replies, strain in his voice as it becomes apparent that he is losing this fight. Weakened from his previous injuries, he has no hope of defending himself against Edelgard's enhanced strength, and Byleth can only hope that Edelgard doesn't kill her father.

But she only pins him, restraining him until he stops struggling, scowling up at her. "What the hell are you doing with my daughter?" he asks, venom in his voice. "Getting close to her so you can turn her like they did to you?"

Edelgard, who previously looked ready to fire back with a harsh response, freezes for a moment, her eyes going wide. "You know about them?"

"Of course I do. Don't pretend to act surprised. Did you already know she was my kid when you started trying to seduce her?"

"Tell me what's going on!" Byleth interjects, more confused with every passing second.

"You were bound to find out about my job someday," is all Jeralt says, and Edelgard's eyes narrow.

"He's a vampire hunter," she says. "The main reason I wanted to lay low was to avoid…"

"I was sent here after you. Sources told us that a particularly nasty group we've been after for a while turned some kid, and that we needed to put her down before she got too strong to deal with. Never would have guessed she'd target my own daughter in retaliation, though."

"You're wrong! Edelgard isn't like that at all, she isn't with those monsters who turned her," Byleth protests, not sure if she'll be able to convince him, not sure how they will make it out of this with both her father and Edelgard still alive. "She isn't bad, she's just a victim of-"

"Well, well, well," a voice cuts through the room, silencing her. It is playful and feminine and does not belong to any of them. Edelgard stiffens, a look of terror crossing her face as she steps back enough to allow Jeralt to slump forward. "Isn't this just the sweetest little scene? I had no _idea _things would get this fun!"

Stepping out of the shadows, where there was previously no one, is a woman not much older than Byleth. Or at least, that's how she appears, but when Byleth sees the way that Jeralt and Edelgard look at her, she knows that this woman is a vampire, and that appearances can be deceiving.

"Surprised you didn't sense my presence sooner, little girl," she chides, "but I guess you were too distracted playing with the poor hunter. Don't mind me, I've just got to finish cleaning up where I left off earlier, and then of course take care of your little friends. We can't have anyone knowing the truth about you, now, can we?"

The smile she gives them before she moves it bone-chilling, but then, in a flash, she's at Edelgard's side, pushing her out of the way so that she can attack Jeralt so quickly that Byleth doesn't even see what she does. She only sees a deep gash in her father's stomach as he falls to the ground, and there is more blood than she's ever seen in her life.

"Now that that's out of the way," the woman murmurs, "why don't you help me dispose of these two unfortunate witnesses? Whattaya say, Edie?"


	22. Chapter 22

Edelgard has moved in a flash, but not to do as this strange woman bids her. Rather, she's lunged to attack, and the two are soon fighting in a flurry of moves that Byleth can hardly keep up with, frozen in place as she watches them, as she watches Hubert move forward, and then she returns to her senses.

Hubert is already at her father's side, and Byleth hurries, kneeling beside him, feeling tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. This is all happening too fast to process, and her father is coughing up blood and bleeding on the floor, and she doesn't know what she is supposed to do.

"How do you know her?" Hubert asks. "How do you know about Edelgard and how do you know that monster?"

"Don't...just take…" Jeralt is struggling to speak, and he looks to Byleth. "Kid...over there, the stake...you need to…" Though he tries to point, his hand is shaking so much that he isn't able to. Still, Byleth knows what he's talking to. The item he pulled out when he lunged at Edelgard, the one she managed to take from him in the struggle, was a wooden stake.

Byleth wastes no time in grabbing it from where it fell, managing to beat Hubert to it and returning to her feet, watching the fight as it continues. Edelgard is not stronger than the vampire, but she is fast and she manages to dodge her attacks, though she isn't able to land any solid hits for herself. If Byleth is going to do something, it needs to be now, while the two of them are distracted, and she knows that she has to do something.

She has no training in this; before she moved here, she never even knew these creatures were real, much less that her father's secretive work involved hunting them, but now, she holds the stake in her hand and tries to figure out the best opening, her best chance to take the monster down. Her father is dying on the floor, and if she doesn't stop her, then she's going to lose everything, if she even makes it out of here alive.

Byleth only has an opening because the vampire doesn't regard her or Hubert as threats. She took down Jeralt first and now focuses solely on Edelgard, because to her, Byleth and Hubert are nothing to worry about, and Edelgard manages to distract her enough with her quick attacks and dodges that she doesn't waste any attention on either of them. That is the only reason that Byleth is able to memorize a pattern in their movements, the only reason that she is able to jump forward at just the right second, jamming the stake into the monster's back.

After that, it's over even more quickly than it began. She lets out a sudden shriek of pain, and Edelgard knocks her to the ground, stepping on her chest so that she falls back onto the stake, pushing it further into her until she falls silent, and then, before Byleth's eyes, begins to disintegrate into nothing but ash.

"Did she…" Byleth trails off, but hears a cough from her father and snaps out of it, returning to his side. She already knows that it's too late for him, even if they tried to get him medical attention; he's lost so much blood already, and he looks like he's barely hanging on.

"Shouldn't have...kept you in the dark about work, I guess…" he mumbles, as she sits at his side, holding the back of his head up. "Y-you shouldn't have gotten mixed up in this...as long as you're with her...they're gonna come after you…and now I can't even protect you, damn it…"

"It's alright," she says, though she isn't quite sure that it is. "It's alright, this isn't your…" She's crying now, she realizes; she can't remember the last time she cried.

"I have people...i-in my phone, you can call them, let them know what happened, they'll take care of you," he says. "You're gonna be just fine, kid, just don't...don't let them find out about your friend, if she's that important to you...be careful at school, your headmistress...just be careful, you need to…"

"I love you," she says, because she knows this is her last chance. She has a million questions for him, about his work, about his "people", and about what he's just said about her school, but he won't have the strength to answer them, so that is all that she says.

"L...love you too, kid...I'm sorry, I…" He trails off, and he says nothing else. Byleth holds him for only a moment longer before standing up and turning to face Hubert and Edelgard. She wipes away her tears, and does not allow herself to cry anymore right now.

"Her name was Kronya," Edelgard says. "She was one of the ones who was there when I woke up like this."  
"You two should leave," Byleth says. "If I'm going to have to call his friends, then it will be dangerous for you. I won't tell them anyone else was here. I'll just say that he died protecting me, and that he managed to land the last blow before he collapsed."

"But what about you?" asks Hubert. "Will you be alright by yourself?"

It's odd seeing him look so concerned, and she simply nods. "I don't want either of you brought into this any deeper than you are. A lot of the things he said...I never knew what he did before now, but it seems like he's involved in something really big."

"We'll leave before you call them," says Edelgard, "but let us sit with you for a minute."

Neither of them have much to say, but Byleth doesn't need to talk to them right now either way. The three of them sit in silence, close together as she tries to let everything sink in. For the most part, she simply feels numb, and wonders if she will come back to herself later, or if this is how it's going to be from now on, but as she goes over what she knows in her head over and over again, one feeling begins to return to her.

Determination.

Byleth knows that there are others out there. She knows that the woman who killed her father is one of many, one of a group that may also be responsible for stealing Edelgard's life from her. And now, she knows that her father has possessed the means and tools for killing them, and that she could be capable of doing the same. Whether it will return Edelgard to a full human again or not no longer matters to her.

She simply wants to make sure that anyone responsible is dealt with, so that nobody else has to live like this.


	23. Chapter 23

Edelgard and Hubert wait down the street when the strange men come to clean up her house, and Byleth watches them work, so numb that she feels like she's watching through the window, or watching it all on TV. She only feels like this is really happening to her when one of them will ask her a question, and she has no difficulty lying, making up a story that entirely leaves out the two who are waiting for her to say it's okay to come back.

It isn't long before they have her house looking like nothing has happened, and they explain to her that she has to keep completely quiet about all of this. "I understand how hard it must be for you. Your father was a great man," one of them says. "But he wouldn't want our work to be endangered by word getting out. You understand that, right?"

As if she would tell anyone about any of this. As if she would want to relive this night over and over again while trying to convince the world that she watched her father be killed by a vampire, and then watched his fellow vampire hunters get rid of any evidence that he ever even came home that night. And on Christmas, no less.

She agrees to everything that they say, including their explanation that there can be no real funeral. Apparently her father hasn't truly existed since he started this work, and every place they've lived, every school she's gone to, he's just been using his connections to mask his lack of a true identity. Or something like that; it's hard for her to wrap her head around it, and she doesn't ask what she's supposed to do now, or if she's ever existed herself.

"You won't have to move or anything like that," they explain. "You can continue going to school here, and your bills and expenses will be covered. The only condition is that you can't mention anything about your home life or family. You have to act like nothing has changed."

Over and over again, they drill that point into her, saying it in this _way _, like they already know there's no way she would have anyone to talk about her family to anyway. Her father must have mentioned how much of a loner she is, without mentioning her two new friends. It's better that way on both counts, so that none of this is complicated any further.

Whoever funds this vampire hunting business, however the hell _that _works, must be plenty loaded, considering she will continue receiving her father's pay, which should be enough to keep her on her feet until she's supposed to be able to get a job. Still, nothing is mentioned about her own place in the world, but she doesn't care to ask right now.

Right now, it's hard to care about anything, except hoping desperately for these men to finally leave, to finally finish making her house look pristine. She wonders if they will take all of her father's possessions, to really make it seem as if he were never there, but they don't touch anything other than his body and the mess left behind by the fight. Before they leave, they make her promise once again to not speak of this, before promising her in return that she can contact their organization if she needs anything.

"If you feel unsafe by yourself tonight, we can have someone guard your house," one of them tells her, but she says she doesn't think that will be necessary, as the vampire was alone during the attack, and seemed to not know where they lived before following him today by chance.

A part of her worries that they might still watch her house, so rather than telling the others that they can come back, she starts packing her things and texts Edelgard, asking her if she would be able to tell if a human were following them. Edelgard replies that if she were focused enough, she definitely could; Kronya could sneak up on them because she _wasn't _human and had more experience at masking her presence, and Ferdinand managed it because Edelgard was so hungry that her senses were dulled, and she was distracted.

So Byleth packs up as much as she can manage, knowing that she won't be able to come back home for quite some time. She slips out the backdoor and hurries down the street to find Hubert's car, and go to Edelgard's house, with Edelgard making sure that nobody is tailing them. But the other hunters really did leave and trust Byleth on her own, which makes her wonder just how highly her father spoke of her.

~X~

She spends the rest of her winter break in that same state of numbness. In the immediate aftermath of her father's death, she was filled with a determination to follow in his footsteps, so that she could protect and avenge Edelgard, so that she could protect and avenge people like _her _, but when everything is cleaned away, when she's not at her house because she can't bear to be in the same place that he died right now, she doesn't feel that same determination.

Ferdinand will come over from time to time after Christmas, and the two of them must have filled him in beforehand, because he already knows by the time he comes to visit Byleth, who spends most of her time laying around, not really up for much of anything. He isn't good at comforting her, but he tries, reminding her again and again that he's here for her if she needs anything, that he will do anything in his power if she asks, and things like that.

She appreciates the effort because she knows that that's just how Ferdinand is, just like how she understands that Hubert isn't good at this at all, and will hang in the doorway, silent as he tries to think of something to say before eventually giving up. Edelgard does not try at all, but Byleth understands that as well. For her, it must seem like the best idea to give Byleth her time to grieve, rather than trying to force her to snap out of it before she's ready.

Until a week after the incident, when Byleth is up to eat a meal with the two of them- she's almost surprised that Ferdinand _isn't _there, at this point- and Edelgard says, "Maybe you shouldn't go back to bed right when we finish. I think we need to talk about some things."

Byleth nods, despite not feeling much like talking. Edelgard gives her a moment before realizing that she isn't going to say anything, and continues with, "What are you planning to do now? Are you going to go back to school?"

"I am."

"That's good. When the break is over, it's going to be hard to continue like nothing has changed, but I'm glad you're going to give it a shot. However...something has changed. We were all there, and we know things are a lot different than they were before," she says. "The group that turned me is even more dangerous than we gave them credit for, and I think we need to address how we're going to approach things from here on out."

Hubert doesn't speak, and Edelgard looks to her, both of them waiting for her opinion on the matter. And Byleth takes a deep breath, trying to summon that determination she first felt, trying to push her numbness and her grief to the side. Finally, she says, "I want to learn what I can about my father did. I don't want any of us to get caught off-guard like that again, and I want to make sure the rest of them pay for everything they've done."

Edelgard gives her a smile and says, "That's what I hoped you would say."


	24. Chapter 24

Before everything went down, Byleth probably would have spent a pretty happy New Year's Eve with Hubert and Edelgard, perhaps with the three of them playfully squabbling over who got the first kiss at midnight- or, more likely, Hubert claiming to not care a bit about things like that and telling them they were more than welcome to take it for themselves. But now, things like that are far from their minds, and, even if they weren't, it might be weird to do that with a guest.

Even though Ferdinand could not get away from his family for Christmas, he doesn't have any plans for New Year, and somehow ends up spending that with them. It would feel a little odd to bicker over midnight kisses with him there, but they also don't really mind having him as a guest.

Though no one was really able to snap Byleth out of it until Edelgard motivated her to seek further revenge, Ferdinand's generally cheerful attitude does help to brighten things up a little, and make it easier to take her mind off of things. Besides, now that he's in on the secret, and now that he knows what happened to them on Christmas, it seems like they're not ever going to be able to get rid of him.

Still, Byleth doesn't see anyone genuinely complaining, and even Hubert seems to be mostly kidding when he asks Ferdinand if he has nothing better to do than harass them all through winter break.

New Year's isn't a holiday Byleth has done much to celebrate before, and wouldn't have minded skipping the whole thing entirely this year, if Ferdinand hadn't invited himself over. But, as it is, she gets through it, knowing that she will have to return to her normal life soon, and pretend like everything is okay. Ringing in the New Year with the three people closest to her- the only people she really _has _\- is a good first step.

~X~

The break is over before they know it, and on the first day of school, Byleth prepares herself to keep up her act. Fortunately, she doesn't talk to a lot of people outside of those who already know, so she won't have to worry too much about being noticed, but it isn't long into her first class of the day that Caspar notices she's a little off.

"Did something happen over the break?" he asks, interrupting his own story to check on her.

"No, nothing happened," she says. "I'm just tired this morning. I threw my sleep schedule off by a lot, and I haven't been able to get back into the swing of waking up early yet." It's a believable enough lie, but Caspar studies her for a moment, before nodding.

"Alright, if you're sure. But if anything _is _wrong, or if anything happens, you know you can always talk to me!" he says, giving her a big grin. It makes Byleth feel a little better. Even though Caspar is completely separate from everything and even though their friendship feels like it's part of an entirely different world, knowing that he cares is nice. She would never be able to tell him about her actual problems, but the simple thought helps her get through the morning.

As always, Hubert keeps his distance throughout the first class, but walks with her in between, and when she is with him, it really does feel like nothing has changed. They behave the same as they always have, silently working on art projects alongside Edelgard, without much to talk about.

The only noticeable change in their school life is that Ferdinand doesn't simply bother them at lunch, but decides that, from here on out, he's going to sit at their table. Edelgard asks him why he isn't still insistent on the entire student council sitting together, and he sheepishly replies that it was never that big of a deal.

"Claude doesn't care if I sit with you, especially since you aren't coming to us any time soon. Lorenz almost protested, but I pointed out that as long as the seniors are together and the juniors are together, then it should be just as effective," Ferdinand explains. It's obvious that he's always wanted to sit with them, but hasn't been able to get them to come to him, and hasn't had a proper excuse to stay there every day.

At least, not until now.

They start eating in relative silence, no one protesting Ferdinand joining them, but after a moment, he speaks up again. "Since we're all here...well, there are some things I wanted to talk about. I've been thinking about them since the last time we hung out, and I wanted to come over again but I was busy with my family and I didn't want to bother you, but…well, with everything that happened, you guys…"

"I'm not sure this is the right time for that," Hubert says, cutting in.

"I know, but I really want to know...you all know a little more about the situation now, right? Byleth's...well, he knew people and he had tools, so aren't you guys going to…?" Ferdinand has a hard time putting into words, dancing around the subject, probably both to try and spare Byleth's feelings and to avoid anyone overhearing anything too specific.

But even that is not enough for Byleth to feel secure having a conversation like this in public. Shaking her head, she says, "We can't talk about that here. If you want to come over after school, we can discuss it then, but don't bring anything like that up while we're at school again."

Ferdinand nods, looking as thought he has been scolded. Byleth will have to explain to him later that what her father said about their headmistress has her concerned, and she doesn't want anyone to overhear anything that might implicate Edelgard, especially not when she still has no idea exactly how her school and the headmistress, and the organization her father belonged to are connected.

For the time being, the four of them change the subject entirely, with Ferdinand eventually bringing it back to student council matters, and soon enough, he and Edelgard are in one of their classic arguments. Despite everything that has changed, this reminds her that some things never will, and it is oddly comforting to watch them bicker like they always have, like they have nothing else to worry about other than their conflicting opinions on governing the student body.

If only it could stay like this all the time, and if only they didn't have such serious matters to worry about as soon as school lets out for the day.


	25. Chapter 25

After school, once they are all at Edelgard's house, the other three are curious to see what Byleth has to say on the matter. She can tell by the way none of them make any move to start a conversation, making it clear that they are picking up from where they left off earlier today, and so, she gathers her thoughts before speaking to them.

"I don't want to go back home yet," she starts. "I'm going to stay here for a little while longer. Eventually, I'll have to face facts and go back to my house, but for now, I want to stay away, because it still hurts too much."

"Well, that's perfectly understandable," says Ferdinand with a nod, though he clearly has no idea how that relates to the topic at hand. He is simply offering his support, however he can.

"But when I do, I'm sure that I'll find some very useful things there," she continues. "They cleaned up a lot, but they didn't clean out my father's room. I don't know if they trusted me with his possessions, wanted me to have something to remember him by...or if they were hoping I would want to join their cause someday, but I'm sure he has the tools I would need hidden in his room somewhere.

"I still need some more time before I think I'll be ready to go through his things, but I _do _want to go through his things, and I want to learn to fight the way he must have. I want to be able to fight them, if they come after one of us again, and someday, I want to be able to take the fight to them," she finishes.

"That's...well, I...I have to say I admire your resolve." Ferdinand has gone a little pale at her words, as things steadily get more serious. He's likely wondering what he's gotten himself into, but the fact that he hasn't tried to leave and that he has been so intent on being their friend lately shows a certain bravery to him as well. Though he's completely out of his depth, he is determined to see this through until the end.

Neither Edelgard nor Hubert are surprised by what she says, since she has essentially already told them as much. They're more interested in hearing what she has to say next, waiting for Ferdinand to settle down so that she can keep talking.

"My father said some things about the headmistress, before...he was vague, but he said enough for me to think that the school is somehow connected to all of this, even if it's just through her," she explains. "It would make sense, considering he was able to easily get me in on a scholarship during my last year of school. But since we don't know her connections, and we know that my father assumed Edelgard was an enemy, then we're in even more danger if news were to spread at school."

"Honestly, with all the rumors about Hubert, it's surprising that he hasn't been mysteriously pulled out of class one day," Edelgard says, and Hubert shakes his head.

"It's because they know the new vampire has only recently been turned, and they know I've always been like this," he replies, and it's hard to tell if he means it as a joke or not. "The important thing is that she doesn't notice things have changed for _you _."

"Exactly," Byleth agrees, "and that's why I didn't want to even start talking about it at school. None of this can get out as long as we go to school there, so another thing is that I don't want to start seriously training or pursuing vampires until school is out. Of course, Hubert and I graduate this year, but…"

There is a pause as she and Hubert look to Edelgard. She is the one put at the most risk by being in school, but she will have another year after they graduate, and Byleth is about to ask her if she thinks they should wait another year before seriously pursuing her enemies when Edelgard sighs.

"I was already thinking about this, but I guess now is the best time to tell you all," she says. "I don't think I will be returning to school next year."

There is a long pause as the three stare at her in surprise, before she begins speaking again. "My father won't make it much longer, and once...once he passes, I think I might disappear for a while. Going to school every day like normal...puting everyone there in danger and now endangering myself...if the two of you are going to become vampire hunters after you graduate and dedicate your lives to _my _cause, then it only makes sense that I come with you."

"Wh...but you can't!" Ferdinand speaks up, finally recovering from his shock enough to comment. "You can't just drop out of school before you last year, Edelgard!"

"That actually isn't a bad idea," Hubert replies. "It will certainly be safer for you, that's for sure, and will allow us the time we need to gather information and challenge them."

"Exactly. As I am now, I won't be able to do much in terms of getting a job, and even staying a student will become more difficult for me. Either I will find a way to undo this curse, or I will have to accept this as my life, and either way, I can't keep going on this path anymore."

"That's understandable. Then, we'll keep behaving as normal until the end of the semester, and then make a plan from there," Byleth says, and it is settled. Or, at least, it should be, but the one who isn't involved with their plans but has been forced into the situation either way is not at all satisfied with that.

"But you can't just leave! It's...it's your last year, couldn't you just wait a little longer? You're going to graduate, so…" Ferdinand's protests trail off as he tries to think of what he should say, but nothing seems to come to him. Edelgard has no response, simply shaking her head at each of his arguments, until Hubert decides to stop in.

"Honestly, Ferdinand," he says, "it isn't any of your business. Besides, shouldn't you be happy about all of this? After all, if Edelgard drops out of school then you won't have her as a rival anymore. You'll become class president next year no problem, right?"

For a moment, Ferdinand looks ready to lash out at Hubert, staring him down. But then he looks to Edelgard and says nothing, then to Byleth, still saying nothing. Finally, he looks down at the ground and says, "I need to get home. Please don't do anything reckless before the end of the year."

With that, he leaves, and none of them try to stop him. It's understandable why he would be upset; not only is he losing Edelgard, who he probably considers a good friend despite their rivalry, but he has been pulled into their group only to be left out again, as they make plans to move forward with something that he can't do. Byleth can only hope that he won't take it so hard for very long.


	26. Chapter 26

The three of them live together from that point on. Though Christmas break was one thing, it feels entirely different to consistently keep it up during the school year, rather than just on the weekends, or the occasional late nights during the week when they decide it isn't worth going home at this hour. Now, Hubert has nearly severed all ties with his family, and though he doesn't say much about their reactions either way, Byleth supposes they must have been expecting this, or don't care much at all.

They leave school together to go home together, and they arrive together in the mornings, but when they are at school, it is just the same as it was before Christmas break. At lunch, they sit together, and they talk between some classes, share a table during art, but still do nothing to indicate that the three of them are anything more than friends. At this point, it seems vital to do so, not only because they don't want the other students to pay any extra attention to them, but that coming out about a polyamorous relationship might even draw the attention of the faculty, something they definitely can't do now, since they have no idea who the enemy really is.

Nothing changes for them, not even Ferdinand. He has become a permanent fixture at their lunch table, and will hang out with them after school when he can manage it, especially if he and Edelgard have a student council meeting together. Things are stiff at first, and the day immediately after Edelgard said she would drop out of school, he lingers by their lunch table for a moment, as if debating whether or not he can actually sit down.

Byleth is glad that he decides to, and that he decides to pretend like nothing has happened. She would have been sad if he stopped talking to them altogether, and while they would have had to worry about him potentially outing Edelgard's secret, that was not her biggest concern in regards to him drifting away from them. Truthfully, she knows that she would just miss having him around, and that Edelgard would, and that even Hubert would.

It is hard to explain why Ferdinand has fit himself in so easily as a permanent fourth wheel, but he has, and Byleth tries not to think about the fact that four wheels isn't exactly an abnormal number of wheels to have. Better not to complicate things any more than they already are.

Ferdinand struggles to keep up his cheery demeanor after the incident, but he doesn't mention it again, and seems to really want to keep spending time with the three of them. They don't bring it up either, and everything falls back into the same routine. School proves to be a decent distraction for Byleth, who just buries herself in her work while she is there, despite the fact that she no longer has any reason to care about her grades. Others are applying for college by now, and some have already been accepted from early decision, but that is not something that either she or Hubert spare any thought on.

Their serious problems aren't discussed at this point. Though they have a plan in mind, it will be a little while before they can properly execute it, and until then, they can't discuss it where someone could overhear, and they prefer to spend their time away from school not worrying about it. Things are complicated enough as it is, and soon enough, it will be all that they have to think about. They decide that there isn't anything wrong with enjoying their last semester of school while they can, and trying to pretend that they have a normal life for a little while longer.

~X~

January passes by rather quickly with all of them settling into a routine and getting back to the way things were before everything got at least ten times more complicated. By the end of the month, the buzz about Valentine's Day has started, something that Byleth finds she can't avoid anywhere at school. The decorations shift to red and pink, with hearts everywhere she looks, and certain people find the topic endlessly fascinating.

She supposes that this must be the first year Caspar has ever had anyone he considered spending Valentine's Day with, or maybe she doesn't understand how it works because she's never thought about it before. Maybe everyone is as enthusiastic as he is when they have someone that they like, but whatever the case, he goes on and on about what he should do where Petra is concerned.

"We had a lot of fun at the dance, you know. I think I've got a real chance here, so maybe I should try and take her out? Or should I just give her a gift and see what happens?" he asks, but Byleth doesn't have much input, leaving their conversations mostly one-sided.

Truthfully, now that she has started to wonder about it, she wonders if she _should _be more excited. After all, she has not one person, but two people to spend it with, and two people that she loves very much. They haven't discussed it at all, which seems strange considering how often it is shoved in their faces, and she wonders if that is deliberate, because none of them seem like the Valentine type, or if they're both just as new to this and unsure as she is. It isn't as if they could go out and do anything special with the nature of their relationship anyway.

But the one to actually bring it up to them is not one of them, but rather, Ferdinand, who can't keep his curiosity to himself. For the most part, he hasn't been weird about the fact that all three of them are dating, but as the day grows closer, he brings it up, saying, "What do you guys do for Valentine's Day?"

"What do you mean by that?" Edelgard asks.

"Well, I guess I mean what you're going to do, since you haven't had one before," he explains, already looking sheepish. "But I also mean...well, will you go out? All three of you?"

He must just still be bewildered by the entire concept, but that doesn't make the line of questioning any less embarrassing. At least it gets the topic of Valentine's Day out of the way, and out in the open for them to actually discuss.

"Of course not," she replies. "We're trying not to call attention to ourselves, remember? We'll just stay in, even if it is a special occasion." Hubert and Byleth are quick to agree with that, but neither of them makes the move to ask if they will be doing anything special while staying in, or if it will be just like any other night for them.

Byleth will be content either way, but she does wonder if they'll make any private plans for the night, just the same as she wonders if Ferdinand was simply asking out of his curiosity about how their relationship works, or if he had any other reason to. It is getting harder to pretend that she doesn't notice what's going on.


	27. Chapter 27

When Valentine's Day is finally upon them, they have a mostly ordinary day at school. There are definitely couples trying to have as romantic of a day as they can manage despite still having to attend school, and there are hopefuls, trying to confess, but for Byleth, Edelgard, and Hubert, everything remains the same. With their relationship still a secret, there would not be anything they could do to make the school day somehow special, and even if they could, Byleth is not entirely sure they would.

But the day goes on, completely ordinary for them, until the end of their lunch hour. Ferdinand has seemed odd in a way Byleth could not piece together, and she wonders if he is back to feeling awkward about his outburst when Edelgard announced her plans for the future. He seems like there's something he wants to say, and always seems ready to open his mouth to say it, only to back down again, leaving him incredibly quiet in comparison to most days.

That is the first thing that makes their day only _mostly _ordinary, but what really keeps it from being entirely ordinary is that, at the end of lunch, he finally manages to say something. In a quiet voice, so that no one who might pass by could overhear, he asks, "Do you still not have any plans for tonight?"

"Just the same as always," Hubert replies, giving him a look. He looks ready to ask Ferdinand why he is still so concerned with their Valentine plans, but then, before he does, Ferdinand speaks up again.

"If that's the case, then would it be alright if I came over after school?" he asks. "If you guys already had serious plans, I wouldn't want to intrude, but since that isn't the case...it wouldn't be a problem, would it?"

He wants this to look as though it's a perfectly natural thing to ask, but Byleth still can't help but feel that it's odd. Even if they aren't going out, stuck in because they don't want to expose their relationship or because they don't get much pleasure out of going out anyway, it's still Valentine's Day, and Ferdinand is still inviting himself over, and something seems very deliberate about that.

"That...would be fine," Edelgard replies, likely speaking up before Hubert has the chance to tell him not to. It would have been perfectly understandable for them to turn him down, but Byleth has the feeling that even if Hubert had, it would only have been because he is almost expected to be particularly hard on Ferdinand at this point, and she knows that she would have said it was fine as well.

~X~

They expect Ferdinand to follow them home that afternoon, but when they pull up to Edelgard's house, his car is not behind him. After waiting a few moments, they head inside, certain that he will be along any minute, but an hour passes before they hear anything from Ferdinand. Byleth is just beginning to wonder if he changed his mind and didn't feel the need to tell them when he knocks at the door, and Edelgard goes to let him.

"What do you think you're _doing _?" she asks, and quickly, Byleth and Hubert go to join her and see exactly what Ferdinand _is _doing.

What he is doing turns out to be juggling so much in his arms that Byleth wonders how he was able to knock on the door to begin with. He has three heart-shaped balloons, a large bouquet of flowers, an expensive looking heart-shaped box of candies, and what appears to be a bag of some very fancy coffee beans. Valentine gifts for the three of them, and not the sort that they could even attempt to pass off as platonic gifts, or even peace offerings after the scene he made when school started back. No, Ferdinand's intentions with these gifts are very obvious.

"Can I please come in?" he asks, and Edelgard lets him through so that he can sit the gifts on the table in her living room, the three of them following behind him. The balloons bob where they sit, weighed down by a small sandbag, and Ferdinand stares at them like he's afraid they'll fly away indoors somehow, rather than facing them.

"Is this why you wanted to come over?" Byleth asks, overcoming her surprise enough to voice that question.

"I don't know how else to tell you," he says, finally turning around to face them. "I'm happiest when I'm with you, when I'm with all of you. I never thought it was possible to feel this way, and then...and then seeing that you all understand that and have something like that with each other...you let me be a part of things, but I'm still separate. I don't want to be separate anymore."

So, there it is. And Byleth can't even say that she is surprised by this, because she has watched Ferdinand dance around the subject for weeks now, and she has watched Edelgard, Hubert, even herself, pretend not to notice, and pretend not to think about it and consider it. But now he's brought it up in a way that isn't avoidable, and before they've spoken to each other about it, it is already obvious what the outcome is going to be.

They're in love with each other and Ferdinand is in love with all of them. Ferdinand watches them for a reaction, nervous and expectant, probably bracing himself for rejection, but he has nothing to worry about there. After all, somehow, they've all fallen in love with him, for better or for worse.

~X~

Ferdinand can barely bring himself to leave that night, after what turns out to be a rather eventful Valentine's night in. They attempt to discuss the shift in their relationship, and how he fits into things, only for it to come to their attention that he has already felt like a part of things for a while. The only difference is that, before, they saved any physical affection for after he went home. Now, there's no need for that, and they even spare him some affection as well.

He wants to stay all night, but he still has a family to go home to and they still have school the next day. However, once he's gone, the three of them stay up a little later to discuss this, and talk about when they each started to fall for him.

"Who knows?" Edelgard sighs, sounding defeated. "He's been a thorn in my side since childhood, but here I am...maybe it's always been there."

"I couldn't begin to explain it to you," says Hubert. "He's nothing but a pest, and he had the audacity to try to dance with all of us, and followed us that night, and we haven't been able to shake him since."

"He's been just as much a part of things as either of you have, since the very first day of school," is all Byleth has to say on the subject.

Maybe things should have been more confusing, or maybe they should have had more to talk out, but letting Ferdinand in felt natural, and it's nice to be able to just let it happen, rather than worrying about it.


	28. Chapter 28

There is a little bit more risk involved with adding someone else to their relationship, but Ferdinand is just as good at keeping the secret once he is a part of the secret. He kept his mouth shut up until now, so they really never had much to worry about. Still, things do change once he becomes a part of things, and even if he doesn't give anyone reason to suspect that all four of them are dating, he definitely makes it known that he is a part of their friend group now.

At school, he becomes a lot clingier, hanging around at least one of them at every possible opportunity, finding them between classes, chasing them to and from lunch, and buzzing around them after school so that they can all go home together. He starts insisting on picking them up in the morning so that they can arrive together, so that soon enough, Byleth-Edelgard-and-Hubert becomes Byleth-Edelgard-Hubert-and-Ferdinand.

To some, at least, but to others, they become Byleth-and-Hubert and Edelgard-and-Ferdinand. The rumors involving potential coupling in their group- and there will always be rumors, as long as Hubert continues to stand out as much as he does, and as long as Edelgard is the junior class president with the odd taste in friends- but now that Ferdinand has joined the picture, there is no longer a question of who it is that's involved.

After all, Ferdinand was the one to try and take Edelgard to the dance just before winter break, and Ferdinand has been tagging along behind Edelgard since they were children, though in an entirely different way than Hubert has. If she and Hubert have never been anything more than friends, then perhaps Ferdinand's pestering was what she actually liked.

At least, these are the sorts of things that Caspar relays to her in the mornings, while he and Byleth laugh over it. She hasn't told him the truth, of course, but even from the perspective of the lie- "We're all just good friends, nothing more.- it is still rather funny. When Byleth comments on how he's never seemed like the type to care about the rumor mill as much he does, Caspar replies that things have just been more interesting this year.

"Plus, I'm keeping an ear out for you! If it's something involving one of my friends, then I'll figure out everything that I can," he says.

"So, should I be keeping an ear out for you too?" she asks. "Maybe if I hear anything about you and...Petra?"

"Hey, cut that out!" Caspar snaps, but pauses a moment before adding, "Well, _have _you heard anything?"

~X~

Rumors aside, they continue as normal, and February turns to March. Spring is coming, which means that the days will grow longer again, something that Edelgard is not looking forward to.

"I'll be back to staying at school as late as I possibly can," she says with a sigh.

"Huh? Why do you have to do that?" Ferdinand asked.

"Because the sun will be out longer. Didn't you notice I started going home sooner back in November? You usually keep tabs on everything," she replies.

Blushing, Ferdinand says, "Well, I just thought you ran out of things to do, or maybe you'd given up on whatever your plan was."

"And now that you know there was never any plan…"

"Well, yes, now I guess it does make sense that you were just avoiding the sun," he says. "Sorry, sometimes I just forget…"

"You forget that one of your significant others is a vampire?" Hubert asks in an almost condescending tone of voice, but of course, that's just how he teases.

"It _is _a lot to take in," Ferdinand says, looking a bit sheepish.

"Honestly, it says a lot that you're able to forget so easily," says Byleth. "It might actually be better for you that way."

~X~

Though Ferdinand adjusts well, mostly due to sometimes forgetting about Edelgard's status entirely, there are times when the whole situation nearly becomes too much to bear. Every now and then, Edelgard still has to feed, and the next day, once the victim has been discovered, the story hits the news and their fellow students are tense, which means that Hubert will be at the center of more wild stories about him being some serial killer or vampire.

Byleth is so used to this by now that she doesn't consider that Ferdinand might not be. Even if he hasn't been a part of things for very long, he's heard the rumors a million times since school started, and knows by now that people have that opinion of Hubert. She didn't think that the relationship would change things, but they hear about what happens before he has a chance to explain himself.

"Ferdinand took it really personally," is the way Caspar explains it to Byleth one morning. "I didn't know you guys were _that _close."

"It's pretty recent, but he spends a lot of time with us. Still…"

"It wasn't like they got in a full on fight or anything like that, Ferdinand just snapped at the girls who were talking about Hubert being creepy and stuff. He said he was really mad that they would talk about someone they went to school with like that, or something."

Edelgard ends up hearing the same thing from somebody else, and during their art class, they bring it up to Hubert, making sure to keep the conversation neutral, never mentioning anything beyond Ferdinand taking it oddly personally. Never mentioning the reason why it's so personal, or why that rumor in particular is so harmful. It's difficult not to bring it up to Ferdinand at school, but when they get home that day, Hubert immediately questions him.

"Just what makes you think you can play the part of my champion?" he asks.

"What are you talking about?" Ferdinand replies, looking perplexed.

"I am perfectly capable of defending myself if I think it's necessary," Hubert says. "I don't need you jumping in on my behalf."

"Oh, you're talking about yesterday." Immediately, he looks ashamed. "I just...it's always bothered me a bit, to hear them talking about you like that, and now it bothers me even more, because...well."

"Because of us," Edelgard finishes. She does not say because of her, but everyone knows that's what she's thinking. "You don't need to think about it like that. Nobody knows, they're just talking like that because that's how they are. If you let it get to you, then they might become more suspicious, and that's what we're trying to avoid."

"Exactly," Hubert says. "_ That _is why I just let it roll off me. If it wasn't me, they would just make things up about someone else."

"I know, but it isn't just that." Now, Ferdinand looks truly guilty. "It's just...before, a while back, I...I would join in sometimes. So I feel like I have to speak up now, to make up for those times and to make it known that I do _not _agree with them!"

"Is...is that really all?" asks Hubert. This time, it's his turn to look perplexed, but that doesn't last long, before he laughs. "You don't have to worry about _that _, Ferdinand, honestly. I mean, I already knew about that, anyway."


	29. Chapter 29

A much more important topic than the junior president's love life, and more important than even the vampire attacks, soon comes up, as tickets go on sale and the upperclassmen begin openly discussing their plans. Prom will be at the end of April, and that soon becomes the primary topic of discussion. Though both the junior and senior classes are not particularly large, Byleth feels like there is a rarely a day that she does not see a dramatic promposal occur, which reminds her that this school really is no different than the others she has attended before.

She did not go to her junior prom the previous year, and never really considered it. Occasionally, she hung out on the fringes of a group, and they asked her if she would be in their group for dinner, but she turned them down. After all, once she got there, they would all pair off, and she would be by herself, dressed up for an occasion that she did not care much about either way. Before this year, dances were not something she cared about, not even one considered as momentous as the prom.

"I'm pretty excited for prom myself," says Caspar, after watching someone in their study hall open a card on their desk, gasping in surprise when they discovered that it contained prom tickets, and came from the person sitting directly in front of them.

"Did an upperclassmen ask you?" Byleth asks. "What happened to you and Petra?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that! See, this year, one of the really rich kids in my class got their parents to rent some clubhouse in a ritzy neighborhood or something, so the underclassmen are having our own thing that night. And, speaking of Petra, guess who asked her?" He beams.

"I'm assuming she said yes."

"It's gonna be great! Honestly, I feel bad for all the underclassmen dating someone older, cos they're probably gonna miss out on one awesome party!" he says. "See, the parents aren't gonna _supervise _or anything, whereas the prom is fully chaperoned. Way less fun."

"Keep talking about it like that, and you'll make me wish I wasn't a senior," she replies.

"So, are you going to the prom? Got a date yet?"

"Wouldn't you have heard if I did?"

"Hey, I don't hear _everything _," Caspar says, though sometimes it feels like he does. At the very least, it often feels like she gets all of her information from him. "So, you don't? Got any plans to ask anyone, or looking forward to _being _asked by anyone?"

She has to think about that. Though they did go to a dance together, she hasn't asked about prom and isn't sure what the plan is, though she can't imagine Ferdinand will want to sit this out, which means all four of them will likely end up going. However, she isn't sure if they're going to pair off, or if they'll all go as friends to keep things simple, though, whatever they do, she knows the assumptions about Ferdinand and Edelgard will continue either way.

"I'm not sure yet," she finally says. "I guess I'll have to wait and see what my friends are doing."

"Well, if they decide to be lame about it, I might be able to sneak you into our party," Caspar replies. "So don't make any other plans if they turn you down!"

"Alright, I'll keep that in mind."

~X~

Byleth decides to ask Hubert to prom. If they're going to go in a group, it doesn't matter if they say they're going as friends or not, because the student body has already decided how they've paired off, and, honestly, trying to steer away from that might just continue to call attention to them. They might as well go as "dates," and if she's going to ask someone, it should be the one everyone already thinks she's going with. Not to mention, Hubert was technically her first crush, and she knows that, several months ago, before everything changed, she might have entertained the idea of being his date to prom.

She has no plans for a fancy invitation, or to even do it publicly. Instead, she does it as soon as they get home from school, saying, "We're all going to the prom, right?"

"I had hoped we would!" Ferdinand says with a smile, his enthusiasm not the least bit surprising. When Edelgard agrees and Hubert nods, Byleth nods as well, turning her attention to him.

"Hubert, do you want to go to prom with me?" she asks, and there is a pause.

"You're asking...me? To be your date?"

"I know we're all going together," she replies. "We're all each other's dates, but nobody knows that part. I just thought it might be fun to…"

"And you asked Hubert instead of me?" asks Edelgard, in a mock-offended tone. "I honestly don't know what to say about that, Byleth."

"Well, perhaps she already knew that _I _was going to ask you," Ferdinand replies.

"Oh, so it doesn't bother you that I didn't ask you instead?" Byleth says, before Hubert cuts in.

"I would say I'm offended you're asking Edelgard instead of me, but I'm more relieved than anything else," he says.

"Just what is that supposed to mean?"

"And you aren't going to fight for me?" Edelgard interrupts Ferdinand. "So, Hubert, does that mean you wanted Byleth to ask you?"

"I thought you wanted _me _to fight for you," Byleth argues, laughing all the while. The four of them are able to go on like this for a while, but all of it is in good fun. On the surface, Byleth will go with Hubert and Edelgard will go with Ferdinand, but the four of them will spend the entire night together.

~X~

It definitely feels strange, to begin discussing plans for the prom with everything that has happened. Really, everything has felt strange lately, because of how normal it has been. Everything has been too calm since Christmas, which works well for their plans, but seems almost too good to be true.

The year is almost over, and then nothing will ever be this normal again. In that sense, Byleth is glad to be able to go to her senior prom, something she never thought she would do, even _before _she met a vampire and fell in love with her and two of her friends. After the prom, there will be a few more weeks of school, then she and Hubert will graduate, and they will leave with Edelgard, and Ferdinand...she still isn't sure what Ferdinand will do.

That is a topic that they have not discussed since he joined their relationship, as they haven't discussed their plans for the end of the school year since the initial argument. Though she knows that topic will have to come up again soon, she is fine with waiting until the happier times are over to address it. No matter what may come in the future, they at least deserve to enjoy everything that comes before.


	30. Chapter 30

It comes as a shock, when the campaign announcements are made, that the current junior class president will not be running for her senior year.

During the spring, the freshman, sophomore, and junior classes will have their elections for the next year's student council. There is a campus for junior high students, but Byleth remembers Caspar telling her at the beginning of the school year- which seems like it happened a lifetime ago- that the incoming freshmen class doesn't have officers, so there won't be any elections or campaigning going on there.

For the past two years, Edelgard has been class president, and there has never been any question that she would be the senior class president as well, with Ferdinand right behind her, serving as her vice president. There were likely those excited to see how differently _that _campaign would go, now that everyone seems to know they're going to prom together, which has managed to convince the last few doubters that he and Edelgard are going out.

When the list of candidates is announced and campaign season has begun, nobody expects to see Edelgard's name absent from the list. Ferdinand is there, just like he always is, and Dimitri, after sitting it out for the past two years, has decided to try his hand at it, but the long-reigning class president seems to have abandoned the idea entirely. Though she is asked directly, the only answer anyone can get out of Edelgard is, "I'm just tired of it all. I thought I would enjoy my senior year without worrying about any extracurriculars."

After the amount of work she has put into the school, and how much she must have put into building an impressive college application, it seems strange that she would back down from it all at the very end. Though some speculate that she somehow managed to secretly be accepted to her dream school already, thus eliminating the need to care so much her senior year, there are others who think Ferdinand has something to do with it.

"He's softened her up to it. Maybe convinced her that he deserves a turn before they graduate, but since he always loses to her, they figured his only chance was if she dropped out entirely."

Even as they say it, most realize that this doesn't sound like something Edelgard would do, but if all the explanations they can think of sound unrealistic, and if her own explanation doesn't sound like her either, then what else could it be?

Naturally, when Ferdinand hears about this, he insists that the two of them aren't dating, even if they are going to prom together, and that even if they were, Edelgard is a fierce rival that would never back down over something like that. He insists that everything she says is true, and that she just does not have time for student council work like she used to.

~X~

While others are concerned with what the junior president is thinking, the senior president doesn't seem to have any worries on his mind. With the year nearly at an end, most of the senior class has relaxed entirely, thinking only of the prom and graduation and the summer that awaits them. Beyond that, there is college, but since acceptance letters have already come, there is nothing worth thinking about there, at least, not until the summer is nearly over.

Byleth and Claude have maintained the same relationship throughout the school year. They aren't exactly friends, but they sit close to each other in their final class and he will talk to her from time to time, seeming to enjoy getting her reactions to the various things that he says. Ever since she and Hubert have become better friends, his presence has been off-putting enough that even Claude talks to her less, but he is still an acquaintance and she thinks nothing of it when he starts discussing the prom with her.

"You're not going with anyone, are you?" he asks, and she hesitates before she answers. It's not a secret that she is going with Hubert, but it feels weird to say it when Hubert is sitting right there, and so, she hesitates long enough that Claude continues. "Well, in that case, I think it's probably my duty and obligation as class president to escort you. After all, as a new student, you haven't had as much of a chance to-"

"Not a chance, Claude," Hubert interrupts. "Byleth has already asked _me _, and besides, what would Hilda think if you told her she had to settle for being _one of two _dates?"

Claude laughs and says, "Come on, I was just joking around. I already knew about the two of you, believe me."

Ordinarily this would be the point where one of them would interject and say that they were only going as friends, that there isn't really a "two of" anything, but just this once, they don't.

~X~

Byleth is used to the tension when she gets to school on certain days. After an entire school year of it, she knows exactly what it means, and, after knowing the truth for so long, she usually knows ahead of time when she will be met with that tension upon arriving at school. So, when she arrives one morning to the quiet tension in the air, she knows what it means, or at least, what it should mean.

She is more than used to it, but it comes as a surprise, for the first time in a long time, because there should not be a reason for it. At least, she knows that there should not have been a body recently found. They've already discovered the body from the last time Edelgard fed, so there must be another reason for the tension. Byleth can tell that the Hubert, Edelgard, and Ferdinand seem just as perplexed as she is, and she looks forward to study hall, if only because she knows that Caspar will have answers.

But what he says isn't what she expects. What he says is, "I mean, it's the same as ever, mostly. Another victim was found early this morning, but honestly? This one was way more brutal. I think that has everyone pretty shaken up."

But Byleth was with Edelgard all night, and she knows that Edelgard isn't responsible. What's more, she knows that Edelgard isn't responsible for the dozens of attacks that come before the week is over.


	31. Chapter 31

Byleth returns home for the first time in months, to find everything as she left it. Quiet, pristine, and undisturbed; she is at least relieved to see that whoever has been terrorizing their town has not come to pick at the corpse. They know what it means that someone other than Edelgard has been attacking people, and that there have been so many attacks.

Either there is one vampire in town or there are many, but the group has a feeling that it is the former. It seems likely that one of them has been sent to either threaten or dispose of Edelgard, to retaliate at last after the loss of Kronya after a few months of silence. They are feeding so much to make a statement, to make Edelgard fear, but the four of them are doing what they can to remain levelheaded about the whole situation.

Even Ferdinand, who has only heard about these things and has not experienced the danger firsthand, is trying to keep calm, going through their daily lives without showing any sort of reaction to the obvious message. After all, they don't just have to worry about the vampires, but about the vampire hunters as well, and the last thing they want to do is attract attention from that group at the same time.

But Byleth wants to be prepared. She can hope that the group her father belonged to will handle the situation before it gets too out of control, but the fact remains that Edelgard has managed to avoid capture for some time, and Kronya was able to defeat her father. If this is one of Kronya's group, there is a good chance that they are stronger than her, but at the very least, they can assume that they won't be weaker.

Fortunately for her, there are a lot of tools in her father's bedroom, hidden away in his closet and dresser. He didn't have to worry too much about hiding them, because Byleth never went in his room anyway, and the fact that he didn't try very hard at least shows that he always trusted her not to snoop. She can feel herself getting choked up for the first time in a long time, and she moves more quickly, wanting to get out of here as soon as possible.

Her father never taught her how to fight, and now, she has his weapons and his mission, and she has to learn for herself. If she is attacked, if Edelgard or Hubert or Ferdinand is attacked, then she wants to be able to protect them. She will practice, even though there is not much good practice can do when she doesn't know her opponent, but perhaps Edelgard will spar with her, and the two of them can improve together…

~X~

Byleth feels strange, with stakes strapped to her legs under her prom dress, and her clutch serving as a disguise for a vampire hunting kit. It feels like something out of a movie, and she has never fancied herself much of a heroine. Honestly, if anyone is the hero here, she isn't sure who it would be. Oddly enough, only Ferdinand seems to fit the bill, but she doesn't spend much time thinking about it beyond that. These matters are serious, and even if tonight is for fun, she won't take them lightly.

Nothing has happened yet, and she's had no need to use the supplies that she's taken from her old home, but she never goes anywhere without them. She, Edelgard, and Hubert always sleep close together, and can only hope that Ferdinand will remain mistaken for a friend of theirs from school, nothing important, so that he will be safe in his own home. At school, she is always on guard, but now, the night of their prom is here, and she works her tools into her outfit, hoping, as she always does, that she will not actually have to use them.

Other than all of that, they could pass for normal tonight. Edelgard looks breathtaking in the floor-length red dress that she wears, her hair down up with a strand of white hanging down, framing either side of her face. She and Ferdinand make quite the attractive couple with his arm around her, he in his new suit and a matching tie, a boutonniere pinned to his lapel that matches the corsage he put on her wrist.

Hubert and Byleth go for black, both because the dress Byleth chooses looks good and because, as subtle as they are trying to be about the truth, it's fun to feed into the rumors at school, and they look just a little bit vampiric when they look into the mirror together, their pale skin offset by the darkness of her dress, his suit and tie.

The four of them have to suffer through pictures at Ferdinand's house, because his family insists on pictures of him with his date, and since they are going as a group, they have to get group photos as well. Although the whole thing sounds like too much trouble, they owe it to Ferdinand, for taking every twist and turn as well as he has, and because it is nice to have a family, no matter how fake it may be, fussing over them and taking a million pictures.

They all have their own circumstances, but no one else has someone that wants to take their picture on prom night, and no matter how annoying the whole process is, it is a part of things, and for just a little while, it's nice to feel normal. At least, that's how Byleth feels, but she thinks the other two agree with her. Even Hubert, who would never, ever admit it.

The dance itself is hardly any different from the last event they all went to, except this time Edelgard actually accepted Ferdinand's invitation. Byleth definitely notices some whispering surrounding her and Hubert, but she finds that she doesn't mind. In fact, whenever she feels the stakes rub against her leg as she walks past another whispering clump, she feels even more like some sort of movie heroine.

It's a fun feeling, which surprises her, and she keeps that part to herself. She doesn't want to make light of the serious situation, after all, and they are having plenty of fun on their own, without laughing at her odd thoughts. Going with dates means that the four of them can spend the whole night together and not feel nearly as suspicious as if they went solo, because everyone already has ideas in their heads about who is involved with whom.

There is a pause in the party for prom royalty announcements to be made, and no one is surprised as Claude and Hilda take their place as king and queen for the night. Edelgard and Ferdinand knew ahead of time they would be chosen for the junior class's place on the prom court, and have to linger long enough for their spotlight dance. After that, Edelgard is keen on making her escape, and Ferdinand insists that they go somewhere to eat, drawing out the night as long as they can. They find a twenty four hour diner to waste even more time in.

Afterwards, Ferdinand is going to spend the night with him, a rarity. He told his parents that he would be with Hubert, which Byleth is sure they didn't believe, but they wouldn't be able to guess the truth either. They would assume that he would be with Edelgard, not realizing that both are true, and that Byleth plans to be present as well. Whatever the case, they told him that was fine, deciding to let him have his fun for the night.

The night is so much fun, and things feel so perfect, that it is only to be expected that, when they do get home, there is someone waiting for them.


	32. Chapter 32

"Solon." As Edelgard speaks, she holds up an arm, a signal for the others to step back. Ferdinand does, without hesitation, but neither Hubert nor Byleth move. Byleth has been preparing for this, but she doesn't know what Hubert intends to do, and she nudges him. She is not going to let him throw away his life just to stand at Edelgard's side.

Of course, despite all of her preparation, the same could be said for her.

"Don't you think it's time you stopped pretending to be human?" asks Solon. "We were fine to let you play around for a little while, as long as you stayed out of our way, but...well, Kronya never stays away this long on her own, you know."

"I'm not one of you," Edelgard says, "and I'm never going to be."

"That decision was already made for you. Now, can you just tell me the truth? I know she was tangling with hunters in the area, do you know anything about that? Her trail goes cold at some hunter's house, but he's already dead," the man, Solon, explains. Byleth tenses- they've been inside her house. "Apparently, Kronya killed him, so the hunter's daughter says. She says that he used his dying breath to kill her, but...well, imagine my surprise when I found out that you're _dating _that hunter's daughter."

Edelgard doesn't need to confirm his suspicions. Or, rather, she confirms them enough when, instead of answering, she lunges, ready to attack. He is fast, perhaps faster than her, but she struggles to keep up, the two falling into a fight that moves so quickly it is impossible to actually watch. Byleth can't keep up with where either of them are, until suddenly, she only sees Edelgard, and hears a shout from behind her.

In an instant, Edelgard is behind her as well, fighting Solon off of Ferdinand, turning to Hubert and saying, "Get him out of here, now!"

As Hubert takes Ferdinand's arm and makes a dash out the door, Byleth runs across the room, trying to think quickly. She needs to make sure that Solon does not follow Hubert, and that the fight stays in this room. Beneath her dress, she has several stakes, but she isn't sure if they would work at a distance; they aren't exactly ideal throwing weapons. But in her clutch, she has a small vial of what her father had labeled _Holy Water _, which she had taken despite not being too sure about it.

At the time, she'd recalled that ordinary water does nothing to Edelgard, and she'd always thought that the water churches claim to be _holy _was just ordinary water, made special to them because of their faith. But now, she has to hope that there is something special about this, as she turns back around, crossing a short distance to get back in range of where Edelgard fights Solon at the door, trying to prevent him from escaping after Hubert and Ferdinand, and she uncorks the bottle and flings water at him.

For a moment, it is as if acid has touched his arm, and any exposed flesh that the water touches burns for a moment. Solon is frozen is place, and it would be a good opportunity for Edelgard, but a few droplets have hit her as well, and she struggles against the pain just as much as he does. By the time she is able to react, Solon has already set his sights on Byleth, but that's okay, because at the very least, she managed to get his attention. Hubert and Ferdinand will be safe, as long as they actually stay out of this.

Byleth runs, but Solon catches up to her before she can take even a few steps, grabbing hold of her, wrenching the stake she has grabbed out of her hands.

"You're certainly not your father," he says in a mocking tone. "I never had the pleasure of fighting him myself, but I've heard stories, of course. Still, if this is how his child fights, and if he lost to Kronya so easily...well, he couldn't have been too impressive, could he?"

He is trying to get a rise out of her, toying with her before he kills her, already knowing that, no matter how violently Byleth reacts, his victory is still assured. She knows this, but for just a moment, she doesn't care. The one who killed her father is already dead, but there are others like her, targeting humans just because they can, and there are families torn apart by this, and maybe Edelgard is no better, even if she only hunts to feed, but...but…

That isn't _personal _. Byleth realizes, in the split second before Edelgard comes to her rescue that it isn't personal. She can think about it from an objective standpoint, that she wants to help people and save them from suffering like she has, that getting revenge will somehow benefit others, but ultimately, she only cares because _her _father was killed, and because _her _loved ones are being targeted. And whoever her loved ones may have to kill, be it for survival or self-defense- that is something she has to accept, and something that she readily accepted long ago, without realizing it.

Solon watches her for a reaction, and Edelgard hangs back, hesitating, unsure about her next move when he has both of them at a disadvantage. Byleth knows that, if only one of them is going to make it out of this, she has already decided long ago that it doesn't have to be her. She brings her knee up to kick Solon, and Edelgard moves at that exact moment. Perhaps Solon is slower to react because he is so sure of his victory, because he is sadistic and wants to draw out his fun, or perhaps Edelgard's desire to save Byleth gives her just the slightest advantage.

Whatever the case, she is faster, fast enough to take the lead again, and Byleth is freed, reaching under her dress to remove another stake, and attempt to join the fray. Just like before, just like with Kronya, Byleth is only able to defeat Solon because Edelgard has all of his attention. She does not understand how any human could hope to fight monsters like this, and does not understand how they will be able to continue like this, even if she continues to train.

As she watches Solon disintegrate, just as Kronya did, she wishes that her father were here to tell her what she should do next.

When it's over, they search to make sure they are alone before going to find Hubert and Ferdinand, to attempt to talk about what just happened. Ferdinand is so shaken up that they instead settle on simply huddling together, to remind him that they are all still here, they are all still alive, and that it is over, for now. It is meant to serve as a comfort for Ferdinand, but really, it's for all of them.

While they are bunched together, Byleth thinks about her revelation during the fight, her realization that she is not fighting for any just cause, and that her vengeance is just that. Edelgard agonizes over her fate sometimes, and Ferdinand has not yet realized the magnitude of what he has gotten himself into. Sometimes Byleth thinks he remains intentionally stupid, taking things one step at a time rather than forcing himself to face it all headon.

Hubert seems to have accepted his role long before Edelgard was ever turned, long before such a role even existed for him, and Byleth has allowed herself to be swept up in it without a second thought, both of them motivated only by love. They are similar in that way, and she wonders if they are less or more human because of it.


	33. Chapter 33

To say that things are tense from that point on is quite the understatement. Everyone is shaken up afterwards, and once they have made it through the most important part, making sure that no one is too seriously injured, it is hard for anyone to be able to sleep. Ferdinand is not hurt badly enough to warrant a trip to the hospital, but he is bruised where Solon grabbed him with such strength, and so rattled by all of this that it seems a miracle that he has not turned and run from them forever.

It is even more of a miracle that he insists on staying with them, for the rest of the weekend, so that they can all make sure that nobody else comes to retaliate. Exhaustion mingles with nerves, and they have to sleep in shifts, just to make sure that they feel secure throughout the weekend, not knowing if Solon was intended to be the first of many sent to search for Edelgard tonight, or if he came on his own, and it will be a while before they know for sure that he is missing.

It took some time for him to trace Kronya's disappearance to them, but that does not mean that that situation will repeat itself. Anything could happen and nothing is predictable, and now more than ever, Byleth wishes that the school year was over, so that Edelgard could get out of here, and so that they could stop sitting around, waiting for danger to come to them, and start searching for answers themselves.

Of course, the difficulty of the fight puts a bit of a damper on that spirit, making her wonder if it will ever be possible to overwhelm vampires as she is now, but she is determined not to give up. Her father was strong, even if she never knew it, and there are others out there like him, human like her but facing these creatures without hesitation. And she has Edelgard on her side, getting stronger every day; they have come too far now to give up, and even if the fight with Solon was difficult, they still won. There is still hope for them, and that is something they have to hold onto.

At the very least, as far as they know, Solon was the only one who knew Ferdinand's connection to them, and he should be safe even being left behind when they go. That is a topic that they still avoid, but Byleth thinks about it often, and is glad that they shouldn't have to worry about him. In fact, he will probably be safer with the three of them out of his life, another fact that is difficult to consider.

~X~

On Monday, they return to school and it is as if nothing happened. To everyone else, nothing _has _happened, and everyone talks about the prom- or the party that the underclassmen attended- and it seems impossible that that was just Saturday night. It seems like years have passed since they danced and Edelgard and Ferdinand were crowned on the court. It hardly seems like everything that happened all happened in the course of one night.

The situation is so tense that being at school for those next few weeks is very difficult. Often, Byleth finds her mind wandering to battle strategies, always worried about what may be waiting for them when they get home. School is not safe either, she has to remind herself, and if they are attacked here then it is all over for them. Keeping Edelgard's secret at school is still just as important as it ever was, and that would blow things entirely.

She is at least able to hide her distracted state from Caspar, who is officially dating Petra now, and rambles about that whenever he has the chance. She is genuinely happy for the two of them, happy that Caspar has that going for him and happier now than ever before that he is completely separate from the rest of her life. He has been a good friend to her since she started school, and he is her only real friend that isn't wrapped up in this mess. No matter what happens, Caspar should be safe, and she is happy, but at the same time, strangely sad.

She will be leaving all of this behind soon, not only because she is graduating, but because they will be leaving town. After moving so much without issue, she has never had to worry about what she is leaving behind. This is the first time that she has ever gotten attached enough to anything to be sad about leaving it. It is bittersweet, and she is at least glad that, by leaving, they put her new friend in considerably less danger.

It's for the best that Caspar doesn't know anything about what really goes on in her life, and for the best that she will never be able to see him again.

Still, he sometimes notices her distance, and tries to draw her into the conversation. When he gets too on about Petra, he grins at her and tries to get her to talk about Hubert, still convinced that there is something going on between the two of them, but never realizing exactly _what _it is that's going on. Embarrassingly enough, Hubert seems to always overhear, giving Byleth these looks when Caspar teases her, making it feel almost like the old days, when things were just a little bit simpler.

Finally, one day when Caspar tries to get her to admit that she and Hubert are a thing now, he actually comes over to join them, standing over Caspar and making the younger boy shrink down in his desk a bit, clearly intimidated.

"You know that's none of your business, Caspar," he says, the smile on his face far from friendly. Byleth has to resist laughing, a rarity lately. "Better not talk about people where they can hear you."

With that, he returns to his desk and Caspar takes a moment to relax before pouting and saying, "Well, if you _do _like him, I can't see why. He's so scary! Well, I guess he'd be less scary for his girlfriend, huh?"

And just like that, he's back on it, not learning a thing, and never changing. Byleth is definitely going to miss him when she graduates and disappears.

~X~

Ferdinand is able to put on a brave face for the campaign, never letting on that he is dealing with anything outside of school. Dimitri has finally taken an interest in student government for his final year, stepping up to be Ferdinand's new rival, but Ferdinand does not back down, fighting for the position he has been denied for years. He fights with the sort of fervor anyone would expect from him, with or without Edelgard to battle against.

Though he never admits it to anyone, Byleth suspects that this really is all just a front, that he is simply going through the motions. She suspects that he no longer cares about student government at all, and that it is hard for him to, when he has so much else on his mind. In a way, the face he puts on is the bravest of the bunch.


	34. Chapter 34

Edelgard's father is one of her last remaining ties to this life, and he passes away not long before school ends. She does not share many details on it; she is called and told that he does not have much time left and chooses to go to visit him alone, and when she finally returns, she tells them that he has died.

Edelgard handles her grief privately, not speaking much about the loss of her father. After spending some time by herself, while Byleth, Hubert, and Ferdinand give her space, she soon returns to normal, hiding any lingering pain as she says that it is time they talk about their plans again.

"Now that...that's out of the way, there really isn't anything to stop me from dropping out of school and disappearing," she says, and Ferdinand winces as soon as she has. He looks willing to leave the topic alone entirely, but she notices and says, "Please, share your feelings."

He seems reluctant, remembering the argument that occurred the last time, but he finally speaks up. "I still don't like it. I know that Byleth and Hubert are both graduating, and I guess it's a little too late for them to think about college for next year _now _, but...trying to imagine you not here next year, I just…"

Ferdinand trails off, as if expecting them to scold him for his worries already, but even Hubert remains silent, wanting to hear him out. "I don't like any of it. We all have a lot of potential, and we were all sent to a very prestigious school. We all got first-rate educations." Now, he almost sounds like an information pamphlet for their school, but this does not seem to bother him. "If we wanted to, any one of us...any one of us could go on to become anything we wanted. It seems a waste for Edelgard to drop out, just as much as it seems a waste for Hubert and Byleth to both ignore college. I understand that this is important, but…"

"It _is _important." Now, Hubert speaks up, but he keeps his voice level, making it clear that he is not trying to turn this into an argument. "Our futures were decided for us the moment we stepped into this. And until all of this is sorted out- and it may never be- we can't just walk away from it or ignore it. You should understand that by now. Perhaps you still have a way out, but we don't."

"I don't," Edelgard says. "Byleth and Hubert have both chosen this path and cut off any other paths, but I never had a choice to begin with. My dreams were shattered as soon as this happened to me, and just trying to keep my head low at school this year was hard enough. Next year will be even more difficult, especially now that we know school isn't a safe place for me, and college will be impossible. And, all the while, I have these monsters searching for me, and they know where to find me. They know about Byleth from her father, and they probably knew about Hubert before they even turned me.

You're safe right now, Ferdinand, and I understand not wanting to come into the fold now, when you can still get away. I want you to get away, and I don't want you to get hurt because of us- because of me. But that means that you need to accept that life is going to go on for you, just the same as it always has, while we are going to go our own way."

There is a long silence after Edelgard finishes her speech, and Byleth watches the other three, searching for reactions in their faces before staring down at the ground, because that somehow feels easier. It is a while before Ferdinand speaks up again, in a much smaller voice this time.

"I know that," he says. "I know all of that. That's why I've given up trying to stop you, even though I still wish I could, I just...I wanted to say what I was feeling. But I know what it's important, and I know that nothing I say is going to change anything. I just wish..."

"I wish that you could come with us too," Byleth says, and Edelgard and Hubert look to her in surprise. All this time, Ferdinand has been saying that he wishes they wouldn't go, but as she has watched his face, Byleth has slowly been able to piece together what it is that he is really worried about.

"I want to go with the three of you. I want to do that more than anything, but…I understand that I'm lucky to still have my family." As he says this, he gives a look to both Byleth and Edelgard, orphaned while in high school, before turning to Hubert. "But I know that my situation still isn't the best. However, things are different for me. Hubert, you've never...you've never thought twice about going your own way, and I'll always envy that, but no matter how complicated my family is, I can't leave. Not right now. They wouldn't let me, and I can't do it without their blessing, so I…"

"I understand." Hubert is the one to say this, with a small nod, and Ferdinand gives him a grateful smile that has soon faded again.

"I feel useless. All of you have something you can do, and I can't do anything, and even if I could come with you, I would just be dead weight," Ferdinand confesses. "It feels bad, knowing that I will never be able to actually help. So often, I feel like I don't really belong at all. Like I just intruded on something that you all had without me, and like I'm not actually a part of things."

Ultimately, that is what it all comes down to. The four of them are going off on their own paths now, but three of those paths still link up, while his veers off in another direction. Ferdinand certainly does seem like the odd one out when it comes to their relationship, and he was an addition that none of them expected, but Byleth has always felt that he added something necessary, like they _needed _an odd one out.

They needed Ferdinand, and they still need him, and even when they are gone, he will still be a part of their lives, and a necessary part of their relationship. Even if he can't fight like they will, even if he can't just disappear like they can, he is important and he is needed, and he is most definitely not useless. They spend the rest of the day reassuring him of this, and the last day of school inches ever closer.


	35. Chapter 35

Nobody knows on the last day of school that it is the last that they will see of Edelgard.

Exams are over now, and there are just a few more things to be done before they are dismissed for the summer, and for some, for the very last time. While seniors are busy getting teary-eyed over high school ending for them, the underclassmen wait for the student government announcements to be made.

Votes have been cast, and the final count has been finished, and they wait for the announcement to come over. For the sophomore class, a girl named Lysithea will be president, and for the junior class, Annette will be taking on her second year. Edelgard did not run this year, but it was a tight race between Ferdinand and Dimitri. There is a buzz of excitement as the former is announced as the new senior president, properly succeeding Edelgard, but a few notice that he is not as excited as they would have expected him to be.

Most write it off as him not considering it a true victory, because he was not up against his old rival.

Before she goes home for the day, Byleth tracks down Caspar to thank him for being her first friend at a new school. He laughs and says, "Aw, come on, it wasn't that big of a deal. You're not going to get all weepy on me now, are you?"

"I really mean it," she says. "I'm going to miss talking to you every day."

"Same here. If you ever feel like visiting, you know where to find me!" he says with a grin.

"Good luck with Petra," she replies, deciding not to give in to the urge to make this too sentimental. She can never come back to visit, but she wants to leave this on a casual note. Caspar will forget her eventually, and it's better that way.

"Hey!" He blushes, but looks pleased. "If you get to tease me one last time, then the same goes for me. I hope you and Hubert have a wonderful life together, in your haunted castle or wherever he lives."

As if on cue, Hubert appears at her side then, asking if she's ready to go home. For the last time, they're going to leave school together, all four of them. She has more she wishes she could say to Caspar, wanting to encourage him and wish him well in his future, but it would steadily turn less casual. For now, the best thing she can do is give him the satisfaction of letting him witness her take Hubert's hand as she says goodbye and walks away.

It doesn't matter if anyone sees them like this, or if it confirms any rumors about them. School is over, and they're never going to see these people again. With the dangerous life that they are walking into, Byleth sincerely hopes that they never have to see anyone from this school again. It's better for all of them that way.

In the parking lot, Edelgard and Ferdinand are waiting for them, with Edelgard already in the car so that she is out of direct sunlight. Edelgard raises a brow when she sees them walking hand in hand, and Byleth almost wishes they could all go back in and make their grand exit together, but of course, they can't. Especially because Ferdinand is not going to be leaving like they are.

A few students stop them before they can leave, just to tell the two juniors to have a nice summer, _see you next year _, and all that. Edelgard puts on a brave face and lies to them.

~X~

The next day is graduation, but Hubert and Byleth skip the ceremony. Hubert has cut his family out entirely, and Byleth has no family to speak of, other than this group. It is in the dead of afternoon in the summer sun, so Edelgard would not be able to watch. Ferdinand does go, in order to watch his other student council friends graduate- Claude will even be giving a speech, somehow managing to snag the valedictorian spot.

When he returns, he says, "Even on graduation day, the rumors don't stop. It caused quite a stir that you skipped, Hubert."

"Oh, did it, now?" he asks.

"The sun is too bright for a vampire," Ferdinand says. "He had to miss it, and since he turned his girlfriend, that's why she wasn't there either. At least, that's what I heard."

"There might be some truth in that," Edelgard says. "They just have it all completely mixed up."

"So I'm a vampire now too?" asks Byleth.

"It sure sounds that way," Ferdinand replies.

"I think I like that," she says. "It sounds like a good last impression to leave."

~X~

The summer is spent planning. Byleth returns to her father's home, to the home she used to live in, for a short time, and searches his room more thoroughly. There is a lot of information to be found, and a lot of work to do. She needs to train more seriously, and decides that it might not be a bad idea to get in touch with the group he was with before, and use his connections to root out everyone who may have had a part in what happened to Edelgard.

First, she has to make sure that she can do that and protect Edelgard at the same time, but for now, it is just something to think about. They still have a lot more work to do, as they decide where to go from here. Ferdinand spends as much time with them as possible, and doesn't mention what will happen to him until the summer is nearly over.

"This won't be the end for us, will it?" he asks.

"We've talked about this," Edelgard replies. "It's dangerous for you, to stay in touch with us...to be with us in any way, but…"

"It will be too hard," Byleth finishes, sensing Edelgard's difficulty in putting it to words. "You're a part of this, no matter where we are. If you want it to over, then that's that, but…"

"I want to be your inside man," Ferdinand says. "I won't be useless, even if I have to stay at school. I'll be the senior class president, so I can try and work closer with the faculty, and get more information. I can report everything I find to you guys."

"You know that will be extremely dangerous for you, right?" asks Hubert.

"I know," he replies. "I've already decided to do it either way."

With that settled, they begin working their plans around that, helping Ferdinand with his own plans and strategies, and deciding how best to keep in touch while on the run. They all have their part to play now, and even though something has ended, it feels as though something new has just begun.

~X~

Byleth has always been a loner. Her father, though caring, was distant, and the two had to move a lot, giving her few opportunities to make friends. She never felt like she clicked with anyone, and didn't expect much to come of her senior year at yet another new school.

Byleth made friends there, with Caspar, with Claude and Lorenz, with students that she only talked to a handful of times that still waved to her in the hallways. At some point, she'd changed, becoming more open, _feeling _more than she ever had before. She met Hubert and she met Edelgard, and she began to fall in love. Ferdinand always buzzed around them, an annoyance that she didn't ever actually want to get rid of, not realizing that she was falling in love with him as well.

Her new feelings and her openness came from her close friendship with that group, and they, somehow, were all drawn to her as well. She discovered Edelgard's secret, a real vampire, right in front of her, and then things kept taking off from there. Now, she is in a group closer than she ever thought possible, in love and loved in return, and well on her way to following in her father's footsteps as a vampire hunter, the profession that he'd kept from her all these years.

She has direction now, something that she'd never had before. Upon starting her last year of school, she still had no plans for the future, no ideas of her own, and no idea where she was going or where she would end up. Now, she knows that she is going wherever her loved ones go, and that she will do whatever it takes to protect them all, and keep them close.

Byleth never knew it was possible before, to be this happy or to be this loved. Now, she knows that, as long as she has the three of them, she will always have direction. She has found her purpose in Edelgard, in Hubert, in Ferdinand. Whatever comes next, she will be ready.


End file.
